Evan and the Enderman
by ArthaDemon
Summary: When the lone Woodsman Evan encounters an Enderman, a strange friendship is forged. But with their friendship comes dangers when Kuu's past comes back to haunt him. Will Evan and his shadowy friend survive a fight for their very lives?
1. First Encounter

_[[AUTHOR'S NOTE:: This is a complete overhaul and rewrite of my story "Living with an Enderman"_

_After reading through it again, I can't stand it anymore. It's badly written, clunky, rushed, and the setting isn't clear. So I am coming back to it and completely redoing it from scratch! Once I am about halfway through this one, enough time to give people a chance to favorite and follow this one instead of that one; I will delete the old version!_

_I am going to take much greater attention to detail and describe emotion and setting much, much better. I want to immerse the reader into the story. I've also done further fleshing out on the personalities of the main characters, as well as put more detail into my theories on Endermen. Some parts will be edited out completely, and other parts rehashed to make them more clear and improve the general flow of the story. _

_The general story line will be the same. If you have not read the previous version, ignore it. It will be gone soon. Follow this version because it will be way, way better. If you HAVE read the previous version, I say give this version a go as well. I think you will enjoy it, and there will be enough changes made to make it still interesting!_

_Notes on the Setting:: No, this is not set in a Minecraft setting. The setting is actually more low-fantasy. There are some references to magic, but magic is a bit rare and not often used, especially not by humans. There are some references to the minecraft world, obviously, which you will see as the story progresses. I use my own personal theories on Endermen. If you have not read them already, I suggest you do; you can find it on this fanfiction account. _

_Note that my theories on Endermen may not line up with your theories. If our theories are different, please don't crawl up my rear end about it. _

_Rated M for swearing, violence, and adult situations. ::Note that there are a few sexual scenes in this story, BUT they are skimmed over and not detailed! I may eventually post an 18+ version on my fA.  
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_Without further ado, enjoy! ]]_

_Thock Thock Thock. _The hollow sound of an axe hitting wood rang through the forest. The animals, though, were used to this sound, for it had been frequent of late.

_Crack. Creek. Groan. Crash! _These sounds had birds taking off in flight; for the tree's trunk had been severed to the point where it had collapsed under its own weight and now lay on the ground in a mess of sticks, leaves, and axe-hewn wood fragments.

Axe in hand and sweat on his brow, a man, appearing to be in his mid to late twenty's, was hard at work. He was reasonably well muscled, with shoulder-length black hair, and a black goatee. His eyes were a nice shade of blue, striking in his sun-tanned face. He was reasonably handsome, with the rugged features of a hard-working outdoorsman. He wore simple clothing, a tattered tan shirt, and dark brown pants, covered by worn chainmail. He knew it would make his work considerably harder, but there were dangers in the forest and it would protect him from the claws of predators.

He paused, wiping the sweat from his brow with a cloth, before getting back to work. It was getting late, but he was in the zone, as it were.

The lengthening of his shadow and the changing of the light, though, alerted the man of the late hour. He ran the cloth through his damp black hair, and leaned back on one of the trees yet to be cut down.

He watched the horizon where the sun was nearly set. He was exhausted, but looking back at his work he was quite satisfied. He'd cut down several trees, and pulled several stumps; revealing dark, fertile dirt ready to be worked and planted for future crops.

This, though, meant he would need to head to the village to purchase seeds. The town wasn't too far off. About five miles away. A long way by foot, but Evan did not have a horse. But there was no going to the village today. The sun had nearly set, and the Dyre Beasts roamed the land.

Dyre Beasts were not like normal beasts. They were bigger, more dangerous, fiercer, and roamed at night. There were Dyre Wolves, the size of small horses, great saber-fanged forest cats, and bears as large as elephants. Not to mention the massive spiders that roamed the land; arachnids so large they could eat a man his size as if he was a fly. Fortunately, they did not spin webs, and they were not overly venomous. But with their speed, and great size, they didn't need to weave traps or poison their prey to catch it.

That was not the only danger about; the Undead were said to rise from the ground as the sun set. It was fortunate they could not exist by day and would burn away if they did not seek shelter. Nobody knew where they all came from. But it was a general rule of thumb to stay indoors at night. Night was when the monsters prowled.

The village was safe, tucked away in a valley and surrounded by tall mountains like a great fortress wall. Bandits and Raiders never came this far; and Dyre Beasts aside it was a very safe location. Surrounded by pristine wilderness and thick forest, the village was very hard to find unless one was directly searching for it. Evan had grown up there, in the Village; so he was very familiar with it. But he had decided to go to his great grandfather's house and survive out in the woods on his own. The house had been abandoned for nearly two generations, and was in generally bad repair, but he had decided to fix it up to the best of his ability. It had a good foundation and had been well built. He had his work cut out for him, but he enjoyed it.

That didn't stop him from going to the village to buy and sell meat, hides, and supplies on occasion. He had friends there. All in all, he'd been pretty successful since he had started his new life in the wilds.

"Might as well be getting inside." Evan murmured to himself. "It's getting late."

His steps crunched through the underbrush as he made his way back to his home. But another sound came to his ears. It was oddly staticy; almost coo-ing in its quality. And it sent a feeling of ice shooting up and down Evan's spine. He had encountered one of the shadowy monsters once in his life, and he had nasty scars on his side and shoulder to prove it. He had barely survived the encounter. Honestly, he didn't know how he had. He'd woken, on the ground, weak and hurt, but alive; with the shadowy creature nowhere near.

Instinctively, he turned to look in the direction the sound came from. And he instantly regretted it. Staring back at him was a pair of glowing, purple eyes and a tall, thin black frame. It was surrounded by odd, glowing purple particles that appeared, floated around like motes of dust caught in a beam of sunlight, and disappeared constantly. The creature's posture changed the instant their eyes met, going into a partial crouch as its eyes went wide and its mouth opened wider then any human mouth could open. Its glowing tongue and throat made those long, sharp, needle-like teeth all the more visible and frightening. Evan felt frozen to the spot.

The distorted, staticy growl he heard next made him feel cold all over as his skin prickled with goosebumps. He trembled as the growl rose, becoming an unearthly howl. It seemed to come from every direction at once. The creature's entire frame quivered as it emitted its terrifying howl. The red light of the setting sun reflected off of long, razor sharp claws.

Evan staggered back a step, but tripped over a stick. He had to break his gaze with the creature to regain his balance and avoid falling to the ground.

_Vwoomp!_ The creature was gone. His blood ran cold as he looked all around, trying to locate the monster once again. His sword was drawn, held in shaking hands. But there was no sign of it; not anymore. He expected an attack, another teleport, and razor sharp claws lashing out at him at any moment. But there was nothing.

He backed warily towards his house, his hand feeling behind him for the doorknob. His entire body buzzing with adrenaline, he felt more awake, more alert, and more alive then he ever had before. Every second felt like ten as his ears were filled with the rapid beating of his own heart. It felt like a lifetime before is fingertips finally encountered the rough wood of his door and the cool iron knob. He slipped inside his house quickly, slamming the door behind him, before leaning back against it with a shaky sigh.

Evan's breath trembled in fear as he held his chest and tried to slow his rapidly beating heart and calm himself enough to move.

That had been entirely too close. An Enderman... this close to his house? This did not bode well for him. He would have to be more careful. He didn't know much about the shadowy creatures. They were said to have come from a mysterious place known as "The End";called so because it was said to be the very last realm between the Underrealms and the Void. They were known for their deadly strength, power, and speed. Not to mention their ability to teleport from place to place. Their tough, thick skin made them difficult to damage.

Finally, the human found the strength to move. He removed his chainmail, followed by his sweaty clothes, and went to clean himself in the washbasin with water heated over a coal furnace. He mined the coal himself. The warm water felt soothing on his sore muscles as he sank into it with a long, contented sigh. He soaked himself until he water started to get cold. Putting on his nightclothes, he flopped on his bed with an exhausted sigh.

As he lay in bed trying to find sleep for the night, he wondered... why hadn't the creature attacked him? It had made that sound, but it hadn't attacked. It'd just teleported away. Had he gotten inside before it could attack him? Had it just decided he wasn't worth the effort? He didn't know. And his naturally curious mind mulled over the encounter time and time again until he finally fell into a fitful sleep.

Morning came as normal as every other morning. A light breakfast of dried meat, milk, and fried eggs followed by his usual morning chores. First up was to feed the chickens and gather their eggs. Then milk the cow and store the milk in the Coldroom in the cellar. Even without ice, the room was always cold; clearly enchanted. He figured his great grandfather had paid a magic-worker to put an enchantment on it; because stuff lasted a lot longer and stayed nice and cold. It was nice not to have to go high in the mountains and haul down ice to keep the room cold.

All of this done, he gathered up the furs he wanted to sell and a small satchel of coins and started his long trek to the village. He pulled a cart behind him, with some effort. The trip was long and exhausting; but he made it in about two and a half hours with a few stops to drink from his waterskin and rest. He would have moved much faster without his burden.

"I really need a horse." Evan said to himself as the village finally came into sight.

First order of business; go to the Trader's shop. Evan was greeted by Dan, the trader, as the bell above the door rang to announce his arrival. Dan was a generally good-natured and friendly middle-aged man; a little portly with graying hair and laughter lines around his eyes and mouth.

"'Ey, Evan!" He greeted with a wave of his hand. "What brings you here today?"

"Have some prepared furs to sell." Evan said. "And I wanted to buy some seeds."

"Decided to grow your own crops, hm?" Dan questioned in a friendly tone.

"Another step closer to holding my own out there in the wilds." Evan said.

"Why not just move back to the village? Wouldn't it be easier?" Dan asked.

Evan shrugged. "Yeah, it would, but I like it out there at my great grandfather's place. It's peaceful, you know. Step out your door and all there is, is wilderness as far as the eye can see. It's hard work surviving out there, but I don't mind."

"You got more balls then I do, that's for sure." Dan laughed. Evan laughed as well.

"If you say so. Hey, Leanna around?" The Woodsman questioned.

"Yup, she's in the back room organizing supplies, so we know what to put on the floor next." Dan said. "I'll tell her you said hi. Anyway, what do you have to sell?"

"A few hides. Tanned them and prepared them myself, so they are ready for you to sell. Managed to take down a Dyre Bear with my bow. Let me tell you it was not easy." He lead Dan out to his cart.

"Dyre Bear hides are really hard to get, you should be able to get a good bit of money out of it. And that's being honest with you." Dan said, as he inspected the furs. He stretched out the Dyre Bear hide; which was huge, and whistled to himself. "Ya know, I could do a straight up trade with you."

"Oh?" Evan questioned.

"All of these furs, and the Dyre Bear hide, for one of my mules, and the remainder of the value in coins?" Dan questioned, as he crunched numbers in his mind.

Evan thought it over for a moment. "I was intending on using some of the coin I gained today to save up for a mule." He said. "But this works out even better. Yeah, it's a deal." he said. The two men shook on it, before the transaction was made. A small handful of silver coins and a couple gold coins were added to his satchel, before he paid for the seeds.

As he turned to leave, he turned back to the Trader. "Hey, just thought I'd warn you; I don't think it will come near the village; but I encountered an Enderman last night. I don't know if it's here to stay or just passing by but you might want to be careful."

"Enderman, eh? Been a while since I've heard of one of those around here." He said. "You look like you're in one piece, so there's that." Dan chuckled a bit.

"I was fortunate that it just ran off and I was close enough to get into my house quickly." Evan commented. "But I will never forget the beast's howl."

"The sounds they make are downright creepy." The Trader agreed. "Never seen one myself, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"I'll try to avoid encountering it again." Evan said. "Anyway, good day to you. I must head back home and get the last of the stumps pulled and these seeds planted before it gets too late."

"Allright then." Dan nodded. "See you later." He waved his hand as Evan harnessed his new mule to the cart, and lead it back to his house.

He got the rest of the stumps pulled. Getting the trees moved out of the way was much faster and easier with the mule. The beast was well trained, young, and strong. He made good time, and was even able to till the soil, and start working on a fence to keep wild beasts out of his garden. The sun had nearly set when he reluctantly stopped working and headed back to his house.

Much to his relief, he did not encounter the Enderman again that day.

Or the next day.

In fact, several days passed without incident. He finished the fence, dug a trench from the stream to direct the water to the crops, built a floodgate to control the flow of water so as not to overwater them, and built a pen for the mule, which he had named Jack. He still hadn't forgotten his encounter with the Enderman, but it was far from his mind with his daily chores.


	2. Watched

Thoughts of the Enderman came back to him when he opened his door one morning to find strange items placed there, in front of it. Mostly rocks laced with quartz that sparkled and shone in the light. Two of the rocks contained iron ore; which he could sell to the Blacksmith in town. There were some plants, clearly uprooted, a few clumps of dirt, and a few bits of wood. One of the stones, though, made his breath catch. He looked at it closer, then tapped at the sparkling gems held within. Diamonds. There was no mistaking it.

But who had put them there? And why? He was just about to bring them inside when he heard the strange, staticy chirp to his left. . A rush of ice went down his spine and he froze. As he looked around, careful not to move his head, or look too high, he caught sight of the creature's clawed. digitgrade feet, which took a step back. He heard a stick crack under its weight, and a moment later – _Bamf! _The creature was gone leaving nothing but a few of those odd floating particles, which vanished a few moments later.

Evan stood frozen to the spot for several moments, alert and listening, but there was no further sign of the Enderman.

But that told him the creature was still in the general area. That thought was nerve-wracking. He decided to work around the house that day. He would mine for coal later.

Again, several days passed without incident. A time or two, he thought he saw the Enderman, but that could have been his own paranoia playing tricks on his eyes.

Finally, he realized he did need to visit his mine, so he gathered up his tools, then made his way carefully to his coal mine. He was alert as he walked, but he saw no sign of the shadowy entity. The mine was kept steady with scaffolding made of wood thanks to the skill of his great grandfather. He had built some scaffolding himself as well. All in all it was reasonably safe and sturdy. He had to be on guard, though; the undead tended to take shelter in anything that was to be found underground to escape the burning rays of the sun.

He was also alert for any signs of the Enderman. He knew they seemed to prefer dark areas, and his mineshaft was, indeed, dark. He was relieved when no signs of the creature presented themselves, and he got to work, chipping away at the stone to get at the veins of coal held within. He was just about to head back when he heard odd, shuffling steps followed by a wet-sounding disjointed groan.

"Damn!" he swore to himself. Evan quickly raised his bow, pulled an arrow from his quiver, and pulled the string back. At least the undead announced their presence with their odd, disgusting-sounding moans and shambling steps. Zombies weren't exactly smart. Mindless dead things that 'lived' for nothing but living, human flesh.

Well, it wasn't going to get a piece of him! Not today! Not any day! As he got the shambling, rotting figure in his sights and prepared to let his arrow fly, the sharp 'Vwoomp!' of a teleport made him jump terribly, sending the arrow flying off gods knew where. The sound of the teleport was followed by a growl. He saw the glowing eyes, staring at the zombie. The Enderman was in a crouch, unable to get much higher up; but Evan couldn't see many details of it. The cave was dark other then the torches he had on his small cart.

The zombie seemed uninterested in the Enderman, and kept shambling towards Evan, who stood frozen to the spot in fear. The shadowy creature growled again as the zombie kept its shambling pace towards the human. Evan shakily reached for his quiver, finding it was empty. Damn! He should have brought more then one arrow! He cursed to himself for that. He backed up to the wall, his knees shaking as the Enderman suddenly charged the zombie. He noticed its frame changed a bit as it charged, claws growing long and sharp as sharp spines appeared on its back.

The zombie didn't stand a chance. One slash of razor sharp claws had it staggering, and another had it rent nearly in half, and a third slash had its head rolling away. The sickly moan of the undead thing choked off halfway through the shadowy monster's attack. The Enderman sniffed at its claws, and let out a staticy cough and shook its head unpleasantly before it turned its head to stare at the zombie for a moment. It even nudged the body with a foot, before making that unpleasant grimace again.

Then... its eyes turned to Evan. Evan was terrified. That zombie was in three pieces, on the ground. Those claws had rent it in half, flesh and bone, as if it was made of butter! And Evan was sure those claws had been meant for him.

That could have been him. He was frozen to the spot, staring back at the Enderman in terror. He was snapped out of his stupor by a sharp clatter as his bow hit the floor. That snapped him out of it long enough to turn tail and run, straight past the Enderman, as fast as he could. He left his cart and tools, and dropped bow behind. He was too scared to think to grab them as he ran. His steps pounded against the ground as he tried to muster as much speed as he could. Every step he expected those deadly claws to tear into his back.

But they never came. He tore out of the mine and down the path back to his house, falling twice and scraping up his knees. But each time he got back up and kept running.

A few heartstopping times, he thought the creature was right behind him. He had never run so far, or so fast in his life. As he arrived at his house, he rushed inside and shut his door and sank to his knees, shaken to his very core.

"Oh gods.. that could have been me..." he panted, eyes wide in panic. "That was too close... way too close... oh gods that was supposed to be me..." he felt light headed from it all. He was actually a bit surprised, albiet relieved, that he hadn't wet himself in fear. Hands trembling, he took his armor off and changed into his nightclothes. He glanced towards the window, and jumped back with a gasp, a jolt of icy fear going up his spine as he thought he saw a pair of glowing eyes there, but when he looked again there was nothing.

"Just my nerves..." Evan breathed out, closing his eyes. "It didn't follow me. If it did I'd be dead..." Just hearing his own voice reassured him that he was still alive and in one piece. He had encountered the creature twice now. Was it... stalking him? He had never heard of such a thing, but the thought of it stalking him sent shivers of fear all through him.

He barely slept that night, so he took it easy the next day. In fact, he didn't leave the house. He occupied himself with cleaning and tidying up what parts of it were currently livable. He still had two bedrooms to finish; but for now the kitchen, livingroom, bathroom, and dining room were finished. He had his bed in the livingroom next to the fireplace, which was lit up by a warm, cheerful fire. It was early spring; the frost no longer wreathing the ground but mornings were still cold and and the days nippy. It was nice to be warm when it was cold out.

The next day, he cursed to himself. He had left his pickaxe, his bow, and his cart, in the mine. He realized he would have to go back and get them, but after encountering the Enderman, he was, admittedly, terribly afraid.

He put his armor on and strapped his sword to his hip before he nervously pushed his door open. His eyes moved quickly left and right as he listened intently. He carefully stepped out of his door, when he tripped and nearly fell over something that had not been there the night before. He looked down, and let out a shocked gasp.

On the ground was his pickaxe, and a few feet away, his bow. Next to that was his cart, with the coal he had found two days prior in the mine before his mad dash for home. He looked around in confusion, before he nervously put his pickaxe away, and wheeled the cart back to the old barn which doubled as a storage shed and stored the coal away. His mind buzzed with questions. How had they gotten there? Had somebody been out to visit him and thought he had forgotten them in the mine? No... it couldn't have been. Nobody visited him out here, much less wandered into his mine! It had to be the Enderman! But why had it brought his things to him? He had no idea. Perhaps it mocked him? Maybe it was playing with him. Like a cat playing with a mouse. He shivered at the thought.

Again, a few days passed without incident. Days turned to weeks, with occasional sightings here and there. He also noticed that more and more odd items were left at his door. Mostly ores, or stones laced with crystals of various colors. Most not of much value other then being pretty. Sometimes he found chunks of earth with a flower growing from it; and sometimes little piles of sand as if somebody had dropped a handful there. He generally left the things alone, but sometimes he had to move them aside so as not to block his door.

Having gotten a book from the village library, Evan had been reading up on Endermen. Not much was known about them, but he had read that they could be observed if you didn't look right at them. He was nervous about trying to catch sight of it; but he was a bit curious. What were its motives? Why was it leaving items by his door? What was its interest in him? Was it, in fact, the same one each time? It had to have features distinctive from others of its kind, though he really hoped it was just one. One Enderman was a hell of a lot less scary then, say, two or three or more.

He finally caught sight of it, near sundown, three weeks after he had fled in a blind panic from his mine. He had heard it several times over the past three weeks; but had never caught more then a fleeting glimpse of it vanishing into the forest.

It made odd chirping and cooing sounds, and he slowly lifted his head a bit to try to get a better look at its face. His curiosity was getting the better of him.. and the past three weeks had him feeling a bit less afraid then he had before. The Enderman had yet to attack him. He was starting to question its intentions. He drew his sword before he looked at its face. Glowing eyes stared back at him, before the Enderman let out a sharp, staticy open-mouthed hiss at him and vanished with the 'vwoomp' of its teleportation. He tensed, almost expecting an attack... but the Enderman was gone. He was still nervous, but less so.

The next week had him noticing more and more signs of the creature. And it was getting bolder. The sounds came closer and closer.

He tried to keep his eyes to the ground and continue his work despite the dangerous creature he kept encountering; which was hard. But he had to keep going. His crops were starting to grow, and his animals needed tending to.

He went into the woods to gather firewood for his stockpile for winter. Winter was over. And the next one a long way off, but winters in these parts were harsh and long. He'd need plenty of wood and stored food to get him through the harsh season when it came.

He lead his mule down the path he'd cleared, gathering as much deadwood as he could find; wood dry and ready for use. He heard the animal bray and paw the ground with its hoof, before he felt something brush against his back. At first, he thought it was the branches of a tree.

Until he heard a quiet, staticy chirp. Right behind him. The creature was mere inches away from him. He went stiff. He felt that touch to his shirt again. His breath caught in his throat and he turned around quickly, only to see its black form retreating quickly into the trees and heard it teleport away once again. He felt cold all over. It was so close. It had touched him!

But he realized something. That touch had been gentle. Tentative. Almost... curious. Something that had left clawmarks in the stone of his mine. Something that had slashed a zombie into three pieces. Something that could kill him as easily as look at him, had touched him so gently he had thought he'd brushed up against something. He had not felt claws, nor was his shirt damaged in any way.

He was thoughtful and reflective as he headed back to his house with a full load of fire wood, which he placed in the stockpile he kept in his barn. As he walked from his barn to his house, he looked up.

"Finally." he mused out loud. "Looks like it will rain soon." It hadn't rained in over a month; which was a bit odd in these parts. But with the warmer air of spring coming in strong, clouds were building up and darkening over head. He found himself actually briefly worrying about the Enderman. He had seen one die once, from a downpour of rain. It had been teleporting everywhere it could to escape the downpour, screaming horribly until it had died not five feet away from him, leaving nothing but a smear of dark blood, a black skeleton, and a green gem large enough to fill his hand in the rib cage. It had been a terrible sight, and he'd actually pitied the creature despite its deadly reputation.

He shook off the spark of concern. The Enderman would probably find shelter... or something. Why did he care? Perhaps it was because the Enderman had not actually attacked him since his first encounter with it. It had attacked a zombie... but he had found his tools left by his door he next time he left his house. Logically, the Enderman was the only way they could have gotten there. He wondered if it knew that was a zombie; but he shook off that thought quickly. There was no way the creature would protect him! It probably just hated zombies a bit more then it hated him. But then... it had touched him. Just earlier that day, the Enderman had _touched _him, without leaving so much as a scratch.

Was it just curious? These thoughts went round and round in his mind as he watched the darkening sky through his window. He had a feeling he'd be having another sleepless night.


	3. Face to Face

Thunder rumbled in the distance as the storm rolled in. The first storm of the year; and from the sound of it it was going to be a big one. Evan added some wood to the fire that danced cheerily in his hearth, and settled down to have a dinner of rabbit stew he'd cooked up with dried vegetables, herbs, and seasonings.

All in all, he felt content. He'd finished patching up the kitchen and stormproofing what of his house was ready. He left the two bedrooms for now; they needed a lot of work before they were done. He sat on his couch as he watched the brilliant sunset. A sunset right before a storm was the most beautiful sunset one could witness; brilliant reds, oranges and yellows, as if the sky was on fire.

As Evan sipped at the flavorful broth of his stew the sky slowly faded in color until brilliant reds faded to purples and pinks, then finally to deep blue and black.

_Tok tok tok... tok tok... _A few rain drops hit his window. Followed by a few more as it started to sprinkle lightly.

The sharp crack of thunder followed by a brilliant white streak of lightening seconds later made Evan jump, almost dropping his dinner. Moments later, the loud _hisssssssssssssssssss_ of heavy rainfall pounded against his window. For a moment, he wondered what the Enderman would do, or where it would go. Maybe it would go back into his mine. It was sheltered there, and dry. It had gone there once before. Twice, judging by the claw marks he had seen in the stone when he went back later to mine some more coal.

As he watched the storm, his concern grew. Should he go find the Enderman? He had an umbrella... but the quickly shook off the thought. Finding an injured and bleeding, wildly teleporting creature armed to the teeth with razor sharp fangs and claws? Not a good, nor safe, idea. Not to mention tracking him down would be damn near impossible. As frightened of the creature as he was, he actually felt bad for it. That particular one didn't deserve to die; it hadn't attacked him. Not even once. Not even when he'd looked right at it, as fleeting as his glimpses of it had been.

That was when he heard it. A cry of pain outside. It was sharp and staticy. There was another cry, louder and more desperate, closer. The sharp 'vwoomp' of a teleport. The sounds came closer, repeated cries of pain and teleports. Sounding erratically all over the place as those cries of pain grew more and more desparate. He could swear he could hear the fear and pain in each cry, and he wished he could actually do something, but he Enderman was not staying still for one second. He set his stew down, and went to add wood to the fire, trying to ignore those pained cries.

_Vwoomp – Tssch! _A teleport sounded a mere two feet away from him as a streak of black tore past him, nearly knocking him over. The creature turned to face him, shaking like a leaf. Its mouth was wide open, eyes wide. He swore he saw... tears. A few tiny, glowing gems dropped from its cheeks as it stood there. It growled, the growl rising into that shaky threat howl; but the sound was weak and quiet. It faded off into shaky keening whimpers. Its claws were long and sharp, and he noticed that it seemed to have a line of spines down its back. It was bleeding all over, as if it had been caught in a torrent of acid. Evan had his hand up defensively, as if his arm would keep him from being ripped to shreds by those razor sharp claws. The Enderman trembled and panted heavily, its breathing rapid and panicked.

Then... their eyes met. Evan felt his entire body go stiff as ice shot up and down his spine. He had just locked eyes with an Enderman... and it was not attacking him. It just stared back at him through wide, pained and frightened glowing eyes. But it still made no move to attack. In fact... the poor thing was more frightened then he was. Maybe this one WAS different... It didn't seem aggressive at the moment. It was just scared. He wasn't sure how long they stared at eachother, but it felt like an eternity.

The trance was interrupted as the Enderman's legs gave out on it. It collapsed to Evan's floor with a cry of pain. It closed its eyes tight and curled itself into as tight of a ball as it could. Its breathing was erratic and shaky; Evan realized it was crying. Sobbing, even, though the sound was odd. A soft, staticy keening. A stab of pity ran through him at the sight. The poor thing was so scared... it clearly thought it was going to die there, injured and bleeding, on his floor. Its dark aura and floating particles were diminished compared to his previous glimpses of the creature, though they were still all around it. He could tell where it had come out of its teleport, claw marks in his floor and streaks of blood markings its path clearly.

He rubbed at his arm and pulled his hand away, finding it sticky with purple black blood. His clothing was stained too, as was his floor. He stood, undecided. He wasn't sure what to do.

Leave it there, or try to help it? What if it attacked him as soon as he came near? But he shook the thought off. It hadn't attacked him yet and was clearly in no condition to do so. That was when he realized the desperate keening had stopped. The Enderman was quiet. Its breathing had steadied; no longer erratic and fast, but weak and shallow. He realized that the Enderman was now unconscious.

His decision was made. The creature was more frightened then he was, and it couldn't do anything lying unconscious on his floor. He went to the dresser and brought out one of his old shirts. He started to head towards the washroom, before he shook his head. No; it was water that did this. Wetting the cloth would just make it worse. He'd have to clean the wounds without the aid of water.

He slowly came closer, kneeling beside the shadowy thing. He noticed that its claws were much shorter now, and the odd spines he had seen on its back were gone. He carefully dabbed the cloth against the wounds, trying to clean the blood off. Judging by how badly the Enderman was hurt, it seemed as if every rain drop had left a bleeding hole in its wake. He had his work cut out for him; not one inch of that lean black form was uninjured.

He went and got bandages, and a few more spare cloths. As he cleaned the wounds, he smeared a thick, strong-smelling healing salve over them. It would help with the pain, aid in healing, and prevent infection. As he worked, he got the chance to observe the creature in more detail.

Its anatomy was generally humanlike, but remarkably longer and lankier in proportion. Its torso was long and slender, almost unnaturally skinny looking. He could see the slight bumps of its ribs along its sides; but it didn't seem unhealthy aside from its wounds. He had heard Enderman were naturally very thin in build. The arms and legs were unusually long and thin as well. The arms were tipped in claws which looked oddly shorter then he had seen them before. Maybe the claws retracted when not in use... The legs were also long, and digitgrade. He noticed it had hair, short and a bit curly; though wispy and silky. It curled around its cheeks and swept back over its head. The feet had four long, sharp talons.

The mouth gape ended almost near the ear and the teeth were as black as the rest of it. They were long, and sharp. They didn't look very useful for eating. He found himself wondering what Endermen ate, if they ate at all. He carefully wiped blood away from its eyes, carefully smoothing more of the salve onto its skin. He found himself studying the Enderman's face. Its nose was sharp, and when he brushed the hair aside he found small, pointed ears. Its cheeks had a slight roundness, flowing into a nicely shaped chin. Long, wide mouth and inhuman features aside, the creature wasn't unattractive.

Gender was hard to tell. At first glimpse, he had thought it was male. It was flat chested and had narrow hips, and the facial features looked somewhat masculine. But at second glance, he was starting to wonder if the shadowy creature was female. There was a slit between its legs, though slightly higher then one would expect on a female. It had so many wounds... and he had now used five old shirts, and an old sheet torn into several pieces and had a pile of bloody cloth beside him. He winced as he saw the wounds so close to that sensitive area. No more putting it off. Hesitant as he was, the creature was injured, and he wasn't going to leave it's groin neglected due to his own sensitivities. He carefully dabbed the cloth against the remaining wounds, then gently rubbed the salve in. He did so awkwardly. It just didn't feel... right, to be touching the creature so near it's more intimate parts.

Suddenly, Evan jerked back and recoiled, clearing his throat as he felt his face go hot.

Male.

Most DEFINATELY male. The area just beneath the slit had swelled a bit, showing two small bulges that had not been there before; and the very tip of its... equipment as it were, peeked out ever so slightly. That was entirely enough for the human, who cleared his throat and pressed his lips together, bright red and embarrassed as he averted his gaze. The Enderman's equipment was the very LAST thing in the world he'd wanted to see.

He had never even THOUGHT of an Enderman having... that! It was just so strange to him.

Fortunately, he was done with his work. The bleeding had slowed, and the creature seemed a bit stronger. His breathing had evened out, no longer so shallow and weak.

He glanced back, and much to his relief there were no more signs of arousal; the peeking tip and slight bulge was gone. It meant nothing, he was sure; he'd been touching a very intimate and sensitive area and the creature was unconsious. Out of necessity, mind you; he wouldn't want his crotch neglected if he'd been hurt so badly. He was sure it would not have reacted as such had it been awake! He probably would have been on the receiving end of those sharp claws! But still... the whole situation was just so awkward! Especially with his budding curiosity on the rest of what that... thing, looked like. It was perfectly natural for the man to feel so curious, though; he was human after all. And curiousity was only human. He avoided looking at anything below the Enderman's midsection as he carefully lifted him.

He blinked in surprised. He was so... light. He had expected something so tall to be a lot heavier. He carried him to his bed, and carefully laid the Enderman on the soft sheets. Those would need to be cleaned later; he knew they'd get a bit of the creature's inky blood on them. He pulled an ottoman over, which he put the clawed feet on. It was longer then his bed so its feet hung off the end.

He sat down with a sigh, watching the sleeping obsidian creature on his bed. Just what he he gotten himself into? What would it do when it woke up? He hadn't thought of all of that; what if it attacked him once it regained its strength? He had his sword, but he saw the gouges the Ender's claws had left in the floor, and that had been from him running in fear of the rain. He could hardly imagine what he could do to him at full strength. But it was raining, heavily, outside. There was no getting the shadowy Ender outside, even to his mineshaft, without renewing all the wounds on his body. And he had barely survived as it was. Even the trip to the Mineshaft would be a death sentence. No.. he couldn't just leave him outside. After all he had done to tend to the Enderman's wounds, the human wasn't going to just leave him to die.

Evan was scared. Very scared. He had his sword strapped to his hip, ready to defend himself if he had to; but he wasn't sure he could do much against the Enderman should it decide to attack. Even weakened as he was, the shadowy creature could make short work of him.

He stared fretfully into the fire as the rain streaked and pounded against his window. The sky flickered and flashed with lightening and the rumble of thunder was almost constant.

About an hour passed with Evan deep in though, though he lost track of time. A sound, though, jerked him out of his trance and made him look up quickly.

The Enderman had shifted. He saw a slight glow as he drowsily opened his eyes. As their eyes met, the Enderman tensed and growled softly. Evan's heart leapt into his chest.


	4. The Enderman Wakes Up

The growl, though, faded off after a few moments. The shadowy Enderman inspected himself, running his long, slender fingers along the bandages. He sniffed at the bandages carefully, then snorted a bit, shaking his head at the smell of the salve. It was a bit strong – but the human's scent was there. He could detect that, too. The Enderman was quiet for a moment, before he let out an odd, staticy chirping sound, tilting his head a bit as he watched Evan. He lifted his head, taking in breaths of air through his nose. Evan assumed he was smelling him, which was odd to say the least.

The expression brightened a bit and... the Enderman purred. Even had never heard anything like it; it was somewhat like the purr of a cat, a bit distorted and laced with radio static. The sound was brief, and followed by two soft chirps.

"Are you thanking me?" Evan asked. His words got another questioning chirp and tilted head. The Enderman was watching him now, looking perfectly calm. He wasn't tense anymore. There were no signs of his fear from before, though he did seem to still be in a bit of pain.

He tried to sit up, which caused a soft hiss of pain to come from him. No – not yet, He didn't feel ready to get up and move yet. He licked at one of the wounds, then grimaced and spat at the taste of the salve. He spat again and shook his head, wiping his tongue off with one hand. He let out a rather unpleasant "Rrrt" sound.

"Yeah, that stuff isn't meant to taste good. You won't want to lick it." Evan said. That got another blank stare from the Enderman. He couldn't understand the human at all. He studied him carefully, looking him up and down. The Enderman looked curious, actually. And a tad restless.

After a moment, the Enderman shivered slightly, tilting his head back. He let out a sharp, staticy-sounding sneeze, then shook his head. Two more sneezes followed.

The Enderman chirped unhappily again, and rubbed at his nose. He looked tired. Evan very cautiously moved towards the shadowy creature, offering a hand to help him to the fireplace.

"You look like you don't feel well." He said. "You should warm up."

The Enderman did not understand him, but he supported himself on the offered arm and sat up. He let out another soft hiss of pain, his hold on Evan's arm tightening. That brief tightening hold had Evan trembling in fear for a moment, eyes going wide. He could feel the tips of claws pressing against his skin, but he felt no pain.

The Enderman paused, taking in the human's scent. He smelled his fear, before he lowered his head a bit and let out a quiet purr. Evan looked back at him, seeing absolutely no aggression, but instead... a rather apologetic look accompanied by soft chirp.

"It's allright..." Evan said. He carefully helped the Enderman stand. He was terribly weak, and had to lean on Evan almost completely for support. He lead him towards the fire.

The warmth of the flames came as a welcome sensation to the Enderman. He purred briefly and relaxed his posture a bit, before he shook his head and sneezed again. The sound made Evan jump, which startled a soft hiss out of the Ender. The hiss made Evan jump again, though this time it didn't startle the Enderman. Again, he heard that apologetic chirp he had heard before. It seemed they would just keep startling eachother until they got more used to eachother.

That was when Evan realized something – they had managed to communicate. At least, to a certain point. The Enderman had shown clear emotion; he had a feeling it was as sentient as he was. There was just that problematic language barrier.

He gently helped him lay on the soft rug in front of the fire. It was cushioned enough to be somewhere nice and warm to lay. Once laying in the softness, the Enderman nestled into it. Evan realized he was purring again, eyes half closed. He went to his dresser once again, and brought out an extra blanket he had on hand. He draped it over the Enderman, who huddled up beneath it near the fire.

He watched the flames, until he yawned. His mouth opened wide, all those sharp teeth fully visable, His tongue, long, pointy, and seemingly prehensile, poked out from between his jaws and curled in an almost doglike manner. He stretched his lean form a bit, then relaxed. He shifted a few times, sniffling and sneezing from time to time. He settled deeper into the blankets with a quiet, unhappy sounding whine. He wiped at his nose and whined again.

Evan decided to get some meat from his cellar, and cook it up. With those sharp claws and teeth he assumed that the Enderman was a meat eater. The scent caught the Enderman's attention, who lifted his head up and looked at Evan. But he didn't seem interested in the food; just the new scent.

"Here, you should eat." Evan said, demonstrating what he meant. The Enderman tilted his head ot the side a bit, before letting out a long "Vhrrrrrrrrrrt." sound. He looked away from the food and laid his head back down miserably.

"Are you sure?" Evan asked him again.

"Vrrrrrrrrht." He let out a disinterested huff.

"Allright then, have it your way." Evan said. "More for me, anyway."

The Enderman chirped again, before looking back to the fire. He instinctively tried to lick at his wounds again, before letting out a half growl, half wine and spitting again. He shook his head and made a rather quiet hacking sound. That stuff tasted terrible! But he was too weak to teleport to clean himself. That, and he had a feeling that salve was easing the pain of his wounds. They only hurt when he moved. Healing salve or not, though, it tasted nasty!

The Enderman's attention turned to the human, who was eating the food he had turned down. No use letting perfectly good boar meat go to waste! He tilted his head and watched his every move, chirping softly on occasion. Observing.

Evan was deep in thought as he ate. The whole night had him thinking about Endermen in an entirely new way. Aside from growling at him when he first woke, not the slightest bit of aggression had come from the creature since they actually met. In fact, the growl hadn't even been aggression. The Ender was just scared and in pain.

He looked back at the Enderman, who stared at him curiously. Maybe they weren't so dangerous as he thought? Was he truly different then the others of his breed... or was injury and sickness, or even, necessity for survival, making him so docile? It didn't seem so; he had been friendly even before that. He thought back over his previous encounters. The Ender had always ran. He hadn't attacked once. He'd even been leaving things by his door. Had they been meant for him? Evan's mind was filled with questions.

He couldn't help but be creeped out by the way the Enderman watched him, though; glowing, purple eyes following his every move.

"What, never seen a man eat before?" He asked.

_Chrrr-ip! _Came from the Enderman.

"Surely your own kind eat." Evan mused. "I just wish I knew what..." He could always try a few different sorts of food; or maybe the Enderman would wander off and eat on his own when he was recovered and the rain stopped.

He then realized... he had to call the Enderman something other then "Enderman" or "Creature". But what to call him? He probably had a name.

"Do you have a name?" Evan asked, though he only received a confused tilt of the head in return, followed by a questioning chirp. The Enderman studied him closely; he knew the human was trying to speak with him. But the language was very strange, and very different. He finally laid his head down with a little sigh, cooing, chirping, chirring, and growling to himself quietly. Evan was sure this was speech, in the odd language of the creature. He was most likely muttering to himself, as Evan did quite often.

Finally the man stood, before tapping his chest. "Evan." he said simply. The Enderman watched him keenly, before he shifted and touched his own chest.

He said something that sounded like "Kuu'Ruhrr."

"Kuu..." Evan repeated. That got a funny look from the Enderman, who tilted his head in thought, then shrugged his shoulders. It worked.

Evan jumped at an odd staticy sound, somewhat like a rapid _kukukukuku _came from the Enderman. After a brief moment, he realized the shadowy creature was _laughing! _The way Evan said his name sounded so odd... but perhaps the way the Overworlder said it was the only way he could say it. Either way, Kuu didn't mind. He found it amusing.

The Enderman went quiet for a moment, before focusing.

"Heeee... fhaaan." He cood. He shook his head, and repeated it. "Heeee...fhaannn." It sounded odd and staticy, and the odd sound tickled Kuu's throat and tongue.

Much to Evan's surprise, the Enderman went into a string of chirps and cooing sounds, followed by more of that odd, staticy laughter. Evan could swear the Enderman was telling him how funny his name sounded.

"Nice to know you find my name so amusing." Evan said, though he couldn't help but smile. Kuu sneezed, then yawned again. He looked tired.

Evan decided he'd let him use the bed. He was injured; he needed his rest. Evan could sleep on the couch. He carefully moved closer, reaching out an arm. Once again he helped Kuu up and lead him to his bed. Kuu seemed to recognize that and he sank gratefully into the softness. He purred softly, then chirped. Something Evan recognized as a "Thank You."

He smiled. "No problem." He said. Kuu yawned one more time, then tucked his knees up towards his chest in a partially curled position so he would fit fully on the bed. In moments, the Enderman was fast asleep.

What an interesting night this had been. Evan watched the sleeping Kuu for a moment as he slept. A part of him was surprised to find out that Endermen slept. The young male twitched a foot and chirped softly occasionally in his sleep but was otherwise still and quiet. Finally, Evan decided it was time to get some sleep.

He lay on the couch. His mind was so busy that it took him a while to drop off, but after a while sleep finally found the human.

As morning arrived, the raging storm had slowed to a quiet drizzle. Evan shifted a bit, then opened his eyes.

Only to see a pair of glowing eyes staring right at him from mere inches away. Evan let out an impressive yelp, flailing and falling right off the couch with a thud. The sudden movement startled Kuu, who jumped back just in time to avoid their heads colliding. Eyes wide, Evan stared at the Enderman in a brief moment of panic, before everything that had happened the night before came back to him. Evan cleared his throat, going red in the face.

"Sorry.. about that." He said.

Much to his surprise, Kuu looked far better then he had the night before. He had pulled off the bandages, which were laying in a heap by the bed. The wounds had all healed overnight. His aura was back to its full strength. His eyes were bright and his stance strong and healthy once again.

What surprised him even more was that the Enderman was laughing again. A hearty, mirthful sound, eyes bright. Every time he looked at Evan, he burst into laughter again. He was completely and thoroughly amused by the human's reaction.

"Yes, thank you. For laughing at my natural responses." Evan said sulkily. While his words went right over Kuu's head, the young male Ender easily understood Evan's posture and tone of voice, which had him breaking out into laughter again. His eyes sparkled with mischief and amusement.

Evan couldn't help but smile. "Ok, maybe it was pretty funny." He admitted.

Kuu saw and heard the human laugh, an odd sound, but he knew what it was. He let out a satisfied and friendly "Chrrr-ip!" and sat beside Evan. He tilted his head to the side a bit as he watched him curiously. Kuu had to wonder why he had been so afraid of the human at first. They seemed to have a lot of similarities. The human had saved his life. For that, Kuu was endlessly greatful. He could have attacked; could have cast him back out in the rain. But instead, he'd tended to his wounds and gave him somewhere safe and warm to pass the night. Kuu was pleased to see that the wounds had not left any scarring. His skin was unmarred as if he had never been hurt in the first place. He probably had the human to thank for this, too, with his foul-tasting stuff he had put on his wounds.

Evan, too, was having thoughts of his own. The Enderman's demeanor was completely opposite of what he had expected. The fact that he was still so docile and friendly after he'd regained his health told him the shadowy creature was not at all hostile. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He realized that the zombie that he had attacked had been on purpose. The Enderman had not mistaken the zombie for him. He had been trying to help him. Moreover, the items set by his door had been gifts. The Enderman had wanted him to bring them inside. It must have been his way of showing his intentions.

There was a moment of surprise as Evan felt warmth against his side. Kuu cuddled up to him, resting his head on the human's shoulder. He purred pleasantly. The staticy sound was odd, but also somehow relaxing. Evan had to smile. It was... cute, in an odd way.

Evan shifted a bit to get more comfortable, which barely disturbed the Enderman. The staticy purr continued on and on.

It truly did seem that the two had found unlikely friends in eachother.


	5. The Storm

As the day wore on from morning to noon, to afternoon, the drizzle sped up to a steady rain once again. The storm had just gone through a lull and was gearing up for more storming that night.

"Looks like you'll be sticking around for a bit, hm?" Evan mused. He looked at the Enderman, though a bit hesitantly. He was almost afraid he was pushing his limits by looking at the shadowy creature so often.

To Evan's relief, Kuu chirped in response; he made no further reaction to being looked at. He couldn't understand a word the human said, but he knew the human was talking to him. He assumed the human couldn't understand him either. There were some things Kuu could understand; but most of that he got from posture and tone of voice. Subtle nuances the human didn't even notice himself doing.

Kuu rather wished he could learn how to speak to the human, somehow. It would be nice. Then he could learn more about the human. He was inquisitive by nature.

Evan stood up, and got to cooking. Both attempts to get the Enderman to eat had been for naught. But that wouldn't stop him from trying once again. Bacon and Eggs for breakfast... the Enderman had turned his nose up.

A leg of chicken for lunch... Kuu had just stared at him funny. Leaving Evan to eat both legs.

Maybe rabbit would be the answer? He cooked up the rabbit. Like before, Kuu seemed intrigued with the smell of the cooking meat. But that was no sign to go off of. Thus far, Evan had realized any new scent caught his interest.

He brought it over. "Are you SURE you aren't hungry? You haven't eaten all day." He said. He offered the plate.

Kuu took in the scent, but shook his head again. He didn't eat. Not like the human did; he took in the energy around him. The warmth of the fire was like food to him. He knew his kind took energy in to eat; maybe humans put things into their mouths? It was an odd way to sustain one's self, Kuu thought.

Evan sighed. "Surely you must eat something." Evan said. Kuu watched him for several long moments. Then, he motioned towards the fire. He chirped and sat in front of it, before closing his eyes and purring lightly, before looking back at Evan. He walked to the window, which had rain pounding it once again. He pointed at the sky, then made a circle with his fingers.

Evan watched him. Then he thought he started to get it. "So you feed from warmth?" He wondered. Kuu hoped he understood, before he went back to the fire.

"Or maybe not warmth..." Evan mused, thinking. "But … energy?" The Enderman couldn't understand him, but Evan decided to stick with his theory. Maybe that was why he didn't eat; he didn't need to. It made sense.

After that, he stopped trying to get the Enderman to eat. If he needed to, he would.

Even knowing the Enderman for one day, Evan had noticed several things about him. The sounds he made, which were quite constant, were a good way to judge the Enderman's mood. Currently, Kuu coo'ed and chirped softly as he explored Evan's home. He picked a few things up to look at them before putting them down and moving on. He paused by the window to look out several times, as if he felt restless. Evan found himself wondering if the Enderman was just going to leave as soon as the rain stopped. A part of him didn't want him to.

He was fascinated with Kuu. First off, he was curious. Second off... he was sure nobody had ever gotten so close to one before. This was a first-hand experience with one of the most feared monsters known to mankind. Though with what he knew of Kuu, he hardly seemed to be a 'monster'. He was friendly; though Evan was not sure if this was because he had saved his life or if it was Kuu's normal personality.

Endermen were elusive at best; and most people didn't have the chance to observe them. If a person moved closely and stayed hidden, an Enderman could be observed safely, but most were too afraid to even get that close to one. But here he was, in his home, co-existing with one. It still blew Evan's mind completely.

He learned that Kuu was insatiably curious. He had to look at everything; and whatever Even did was watched closely by those ever inquisitive glowing eyes. This got quite awkward when he needed to go to the bathroom. Though the first time Kuu had tried to follow him, he'd left quickly, with his hand over his nose, and gave Evan the oddest of looks after he came out. He didn't try to follow him again after that. Judging by the way Kuu seemed to smell things carefully, Evan assumed he had a very sensitive nose. And like any human, the bathroom didn't always smell nice and fresh when he came out.

He noticed that Kuu showed absolutely no signs of needing the toilet; he never ate or drank, and thus didn't have the natural bodily functions that humans had. That was a bit of a relief; Evan could hardly imagine how awkward it would have been to show Kuu what a toilet was.

There were, as would be expected, cultural differences too. Evan noticed Kuu never wore clothes. He seemed to have no interest in it. Not that he needed it; his equipment was all tucked away neatly inside his body. Of which Evan was glad; one accidental look at even the tip of Kuu's manhood had been entirely enough for the human.

Kuu seemed full of energy after his long sleep. He looked like he hadn't been hurt in the first place. And with the rain still going hard, the Enderman was restless. He was pacing, on and on. His claws went _click clack click clack _wherever he went, which was just starting to get a bit annoying; but for a creature that lived out in the open, being pent up in his house was probably quite boring for him.

Evan noticed another thing; Kuu appeared to be afraid of the thunder. Every time it rumbled, he saw the Enderman tense and glance towards the window, then look all around nervously. He kept going from window to window, peering out of them. Occasionally, he let out a quiet growl. He heard the change in his tone as well, rapid chirping and nervous cooing. Evan also noticed a change in the Ender's posture and body language. He was now moving low, eyes wide and flashing left and right. He realized it was the thunder that was the source of the Enderman's restlessness. He had not expected such a deadly creature to be afraid of something like thunder.

"It's just thunder. It won't hurt you." Evan said, though Kuu could not understand him. Kuu glanced back at him, and turned his attention back to the window.

A flash of lightening lit up the room, followed by a loud peal of thunder that shook the entire house seconds later. Kuu's reaction was instant. He hissed and nearly tripped over himself leaping back from the window, followed by a low, rumbling growl. The sound made Evan shiver.

But it was not aimed at him. He was staring at the window intently, his entire form quivering. The growl he let out was low, his posture low to the ground. The line of spikes down his spine was back. Evan could almost describe his as frightened and submissive and the back spikes like hackles. He was sniffing the air too, as if looking for something.

"Kuu... There's nothing out there. It's just the storm." Evan repeated, though he knew the Enderman couldn't understand him. He wished he could. Glowing eyes turned back to him and the growl quieted, turning into a low, staticy whine. He hunkered himself down behind the couch, as if trying to hide.

He was just starting to calm down and lift his head up again again when another flash of lightening came followed by loud thunder. Kuu jumped terribly, but didn't move from where he was. Evan was at a loss. He couldn't figure out how to comfort him. The Enderman was clearly frightened. Kuu's claws had grown out as well. It seemed like the spines only came out under certain situations.

He finally went to the window, but he didn't make it all the way there. There was a flash of black, and there was Kuu. He placed himself between Evan and the Window. He growled and stared at the window, before looking back at Evan. He chirped and coo'ed urgently and kept nudging Evan further and further from the window.

His behavior seemed... protective. Kuu was trying to protect Evan from the thunder, which actually surprised the human considerably. With how badly the thunder was scaring him, it was actually pretty brave for him to come out of hiding and try to keep Evan out of harm's way even if there was nothing at all to harm him.

To appease the Enderman, Evan went back to sit on his couch. He sighed. This storm was going to make for a long night. He didn't think he could sleep with Kuu being so restless. The next peal of thunder was followed by the sound of skittering claws as Kuu dove behind the couch again. He let out a whine.

Evan stood, and went behind the couch as well. He knelt beside Kuu.

"Hey, hey.. it's allright." He said. He tried to speak in soothing tones. "It's just thunder. The rain won't come in here." Surprisingly, his speech actually did calm Kuu a bit, but it was probably just the tone. He hesitantly reached out a hand. He hoped he wouldn't regret this. A frightened animal would bite; though Kuu was clearly not an animal. His hand contacted warm skin without incident. Kuu looked at him, before looking back over the couch at the window nervously. He must have been too exhausted to notice the thunder the night before; he'd slept through most of the storm. But then again, with the pain he had been in, the sound of the thunder was probably the last thing on his mind.

Evan glanced at those claws, impressed at their length. They looked deadly sharp, and each time Kuu tensed from another rumble of thunder, they left deep gouges in his floor. He could feel the Ender shaking beneath his hand.

Thunder had come just as the rain started. Maybe this was why Kuu appeared to be so scared. But he was sheltered here; the rain would not come in. And Kuu did seem to realize that. He wasn't going beneath anything, but rather staying away from the windows entirely and was clearly intent on not letting Evan anywhere near the windows.

The storm raged on all night. The thunder was constant, cracking and roaring and rumbling like a raging beast in the sky. Kuu shook and whined at each rumble.

And much to Evan's surprise, the Enderman was taking comfort in him. He had moved from crouching beside Kuu, which had gotten tiring and uncomfortable on his legs, to sitting on the couch.

Kuu carefully slunk from behind the couch, to huddle up on it. He pressed himself close to Evan, his sounds urgent and nervous. He kept making the same sound – almost questioning in its tone. It was a rather harsh sound, almost a grow, followed by a two staticy clicks.

Evan wondered if this was the Enderman's word for thunder. Kuu looked at Evan's face, seeing the confusion there. He took a moment of pause, before he shifted, and pointed at his back. That confused Evan more, so Kuu slowly stood, and crouched down in front of him. He pointed at his back again. More specifically, the back of his neck.

Evan didn't know how he had missed it before; where Kuu was pointing was what appeared to be a brand of sorts. It was deep purple, almost black. The color of the inner flesh at the corner of his mouth, where the skin stretched to allow his jaw to open several times wider then any human could open theirs; and the color of the flesh beneath his skin which had been exposed when Evan had first met him. Lighter then the rest of his skin, but not light enough to stand out easily without being pointed out. The mark was the outline of what appeared to be a dragon, rearing back with wings spread wide.

Evan had to think for a moment, but he thought he realized what the Enderman was saying. He thought the thunder was the roar of a dragon.

Evan shook his head. "Not a dragon." He said. "Thunder."

To be sure, Kuu said the harsh word again, questioningly.

And again, Evan shook his head. He lead Kuu towards the window. Kuu was hesitant, but he followed nervously. The human pointed to the sky, which was still dark with storm clouds. He then made motions with his hands to simulate falling rain, then pointed out the rain drops on the window. When the lightening flashed, and the distant thunder followed, he felt Kuu tense a bit, but not as much.

"There are no dragons here." He said, even though he knew the Enderman wouldn't understand him. Kuu seemed to like hearing his voice, though; since he often greeted his words with gentle chirps. "And if there were, they wouldn't be interested in us. There are much bigger things for them to hunt."

With Kuu's back to him, Evan carefully and curiously touched the spikes that lined his spine. They were black, like his claws; and seemed similar in make-up, but not as sharp. The longest was around 8 inches long when fully extended. They started at the base of his neck, the first one small, until it got to the longest one located just below his shoulder blades. They tapered down, each one smaller the then one above it until it got to his lower back. Just above his tailbone was the last spine, which was barely more then a hard bump on his skin.

After a few moments, Evan realized the spines were disappearing again. Shrinking down until they were no more and Kuu's back looked normal. He noticed the claws had retracted, too. He touched his back again. Kuu glanced back at him with a slight tilt of his head. He could tell the human was curious about his spines; so he let them come back out again.

"Wow, you can actually control when they come out?" Evan questioned. He was surprised. He had thought they were an automatic reaction. But maybe they were both? Maybe they came out when Kuu was angry or frightened on their own, but he could bring them out at will, too? It did seem like it. He ran his fingers along them once again before he pulled his hand back.

Once Kuu felt the human had satisfied his curiosity, the spines once again vanished. He straightened up. His head almost brushed his ceiling. Evan found himself wondering how tall the Enderman was. Maybe he would get a measuring stick next time he was in town if Kuu stuck around that long.

He found himself hoping more and more that he would stay. He had to admit he liked Kuu, he seemed gentle and curious; not to mention intelligent. Even though they could not at all understand eachother's language, they had managed to communicate; to a point. That was when Evan decided to start keeping a journal. He had one, but he'd never had much to write in it.

He went to his drawer and pulled out a book bound in leather. There were two pages of writing, but the rest was all blank. He tore out those two pages and set them aside, before he brought out his ink and quill.

There was a moment of pause as he looked up thoughtfully, then started to write. As he did so, Kuu watched him curiously. It was oddly peaceful, really; writing out his experiences while the Enderman watched him, cooing and chirping softly. He found himself less and less afraid to look at him. The Enderman didn't seem to mind, after all. In fact, he would greet him with a soft coo then chirp each time their eyes met. It seemed to be a friendly greeting.

Evan noticed the sky was brightening up a bit. It was finally morning. He had been up all night with Kuu as the storm raged; but the steady rain had slowed to a drizzle once again, and he saw a break in the clouds.

"Looks like the rain's gonna stop soon." He said as he blew on the page to make sure the ink was dry before closing his journal and setting it aside. He stood and stretched.

"I really need some sleep." he said. He walked over to his bed to see the sheets still stained with purple-black blood, and decided to sleep on the couch once again. He was entirely too tired to change the sheets right now and wasn't keen on sleeping in his guest's blood.

Kuu recognized that the human was tired and going to sleep. He went quiet, then went to lay in front of the fire and wait for Evan to wake up.


	6. Evan's Trip to Town

The drizzle of rain continued on until Evan woke up several hours later. He sat up and stretched, his back cracking a bit. He let out a groan of relief before he realized he'd fallen asleep in his day clothes.

He then realized he hadn't gotten any of his chores done throughout the storm. He glanced at the Enderman, who was still relaxing quietly on the big rug beside the fire. Kuu turned around to look at him with a greeting "Prrdh" sound.

"I need to go out and get some chores done." Evan said, stretching again. He grabbed his umbrella, opened the door, and stepped outside.

The grass was wet with rain, and there were puddles here and there. He went about his chores quickly; feeding and tending to his livestock, before he quickly went inside, kicking off his muddy boots at the door and setting down the milk pail and tray of eggs. He set the umbrella aside to dry, before he bottled the milk and placed both milk and eggs in his cooling cellar.

"It's miserable out there." Evan said. Kuu chirped in response. He had made no attempt to follow Evan outside; it was still raining and he wasn't about to subject himself to that. Kuu knew what it did to him.

The rain finally stopped a few hours later, and once the sun came out Evan could feel the warmth coming in through the window. He looked out to see the sky was blue once again, with a few puffy white clouds here and there.

Kuu lifted up his head, and chirped happily. The clouds were gone and the rain had stopped! Evan jumped a bit as he heard the _vwoomp _of a teleport. He turned to see the Enderman was gone.

For a moment, a stab of disappointment went through Evan. He had hoped Kuu would stay. But it seemed the Enderman had left as soon as he was able. Evan wasn't too terribly surprised. A part of him had expected it. He was just disappointed. That was all.

He hadn't so much as said good bye. Evan looked out the window with a small sigh. Well... looked like things would be going back to normal for now. He started straightening things up, and scrubbing the blood up off the floor. He wasn't sure what to do about the deep gouges in the floor. He'd probably have to replace those floorboards. But for now he just made sure there weren't any splinters.

He was just about finished when – _vwoomp -_the Enderman was back. He was chirping and cooing happily. Evan actually smiled as he turned around.

He was back! He noticed the Enderman had something in his hands. It was a good-sized chunk of sparkling stone; laced with quartz and gold. He set it down at Evan's feet, still chirping excitedly.

"Is this for me?" Evan asked. He motioned towards the stone, then to himself, making sure his voice sounded like a question.

"Prrrrrdh!" Kuu nodded, eyes bright. Up close, his eyes were actually rather pretty. The sclera was very light purple, almost white. The iris was a darker purple, with a very narrow, slitted dark purple pupil. The whole eye glowed, and trails of glowing energy constantly seemed to be flowing from the claws, eyes, and mouth, along with the back spines when they were out. It gave him an unearthly ethereal look.

Evan couldn't help but smile. "Thanks." he said. "So... are you going to stay here?" He didn't know why he kept talking to Kuu, who clearly couldn't understand him. But Kuu didn't mind; understanding or not, the company was nice. He liked when the human talked to him.

Evan heard the distinct cooing of the Enderman, who positioned himself in front of the fire, before looking back at him with a brief purr. He clearly liked the fire; and Evan figured that meant he intended to stay; though he knew the Enderman hadn't actually meant to answer his question. Maybe he'd sensed his disappointment when he left; or seen his smile when he returned? He wasn't sure, but he was fairly sure the Enderman was there to stay.

"I need to make you a bed... hm. And I need to get some things in town..." Evan mused. He looked to the door. He motioned with his hand towards Kuu, trying to make the point that he needed him to stay there, at the house, while he left. Once it seemed that Kuu finally got the point, and would stay at the house, Evan saddled up Jack, put his satchel of coins in he saddlebags, mounted up, and rode towards the village.

Unknown to him, the endlessly curious Kuu had decided to follow him, staying just out of sight. Especially when they got close to the village. He hung back, though he watched from the treeline. He was curious, but he wasn't stupid.

First stop, the Blacksmith's. The Blacksmith's shop was actually outside of town; a bit separated from the rest. Luka was known to be rather reclusive, unless he was selling alcohol, armor, weapons, or tools; or buying ores and precious stones.

"Back again, eh, Evan?" The burly man behind the counter asked. He wore tattered clothing, and had black hair, almost forming a shaggy mane around his head. His rugged features were framed by a thick black beard and mustache. Some speculated that the man was half Dwarf; but Evan doubted it. The man was a good six foot tall and Dwarves were generally not very tall. His arms were rather hairy, and he smelled of sweat and hard work. Of course this was normal; he lived and worked in his blacksmith's shop, brewing the strongest alcohol in the village as a hobby. The distillery could be seen behind the main shop, as well as the entrance to the cellar where his brew aged to perfection. After a long, hard day of work with molten metal and fire, one couldn't help but get sweaty no matter how well they bathed. He was well muscled, but had a bit of a beer belly. He had a rather deep and gruff voice, though not unpleasant. His eyes, though, where his most striking feature, an odd golden yellow. Almost wolfish.

"This time, I have a few things of value." Evan said. He set down the chunk of stone, with the gold ore laced in it, as well as the chunk with diamonds in it.

"Hmm..." Luka scrutinized it. "That's one fine pickaxe you have to make such clean cuts in the stone." He ran his hand along the deep gouges in the stone. Evan cringed for a moment, hoping it wasn't visible.

"You make the best equipment." Evan said.

"Mm... Even my diamond-edged tools don't cut so cleanly." Luka mused. "And last I knew you had the an Iron one." He shrugged it off with a jolly belly laugh. "Ehhhh" he said gruffly. "I'm not gonna question good gold." His eyes brightened as he looked at the diamond-encrusted stone. "Or good diamonds!" He didn't comment on the strange, clean-cut grooves in the stone.

Luka reached down under his counter, where Evan heard a click. He then brought out a satchel, into which he started counting coins. Evan was shocked at the amount he was getting, but he didn't question it. Soon, he was handed a large bag heavy with coins.

"Pleasure doing business with you." He patted the bag which Evan took and tucked away. He knew Luka was trustworthy, if a bit eccentric.

"Same to you." he nodded. "I'll be back if I find anything else you'd be interested in." he said.

As he left, he didn't notice the man's oddly wolfish eyes following him out the door, his gaze knowing.

Next stop, the book shop. It was there that Evan picked up a picture book. It was meant for young children, but could be a good way to attempt to try to teach Kuu to understand him, and vice versa. It had pictures of all sorts of things; clearly illustrated. Kuu seemed to like anything shiny or brightly colored so the brightly colored illustrations, he hoped, would keep his attention long enough.

Evan had never taught anybody anything before, much less an entire language. He really wasn't even sure where to start! These thoughts filling his mind, he headed to Trader Dan's.

As the bell over the door rang to announce Evan's entry, the older man waved a hand in greeting.

"Ey, Evan! Welcome back!" he said. "Any more news on that Enderman?"

Evan froze for a moment, before clearing his throat. "Erm.. yeah, I've seen him hanging around my place, once or twice." he said. "But he doesn't seem to be much of a threat. I wouldn't worry about him."

"You seemed pretty unsettled about it last time you came here." Dan commented.

"That was before I ended up looking him right in the face three times without a scar to show for it." Evan said. "I don't know... he doesn't seem aggressive. At least not for now. Anyway, I wanted to stop and say hi and pick up a few things."

He wandered the shop, picking up a few items here and there. As he came to the counter, he placed down ingredients to make a cake, a measuring stick, new bedding, some clothes, and a nice, big, soft blanket he'd seen that caught his eye. He wanted to get something for Kuu, but he was at a loss for what an Enderman would like. He wished he could ask him. It was only fair he got something out of all of this... but nothing he saw seemed like something the Enderman would be interested in; and he had no intention of asking Dan what an Enderman might like.

As he made his purchase, Dan's daughter Leanna came out from the back. She greeted the man with a wave of her hand.

Leanna was, as far as village women went, rather pretty. She had a nice shape to her, and pretty green eyes and wavy reddish-brown hair. She dressed nothing like the other village women though; who generally did nothing but prattle on about the current gossip currently making its rounds.

Leanna dressed in simple workman's clothes. According to her, they were sturdy and comfortable; not like the fancy finery the other girls pranced about in. To her clothes were about function, not looks. She was never seen in a dress. She didn't care about the color of her shoes, or the stains on her work apron. She was, in general, an independent and hard working woman in her early twenties.

"Hey, I missed you last time." Evan said, as he loaded the saddlebags with his new supplies.

"You couldn't stick around for a few minutes to say hi?" The woman teased as she followed him out.

"I had other things on my mind." Evan chuckled.

"Such as encountering Endermen and all? You actually saw one? Three times?" She sounded curious.

He nodded, not telling about how the Enderman had fled into his home, and was still there (Or so he thought) waiting for his return. "He never attacked me. Just growled and ran off." he said.

Evan tested the stirrup, and mounted Jack, who stood patiently as the man positioned himself in the saddle for more comfort. The mule was a studious and obedient beast; well trained, as Dan had promised.

The mule plodded along, Leanna walking beside him as the two chatted idly. The two unknowingly walked right past Kuu, who slipped like a silent shadow through the trees, sniffing the air curiously. He crept closer to Leanna to get a clearer reading on her scent, then let out a little huff of breath. So THIS was where the human had ran off to! A little smirk appeared on his dark face. He'd gone of to speak with a female! The scent coming off of the man told Kuu he was, in fact, interested in the female. That, and the female was interested in him as well! He couldn't understand how the human couldn't smell her interest! Why he wasn't courting the female, the Enderman had no clue. The human seemed clueless.

After a few minutes, Evan reined in the mule, pulling him to a stop. It was time for them to part ways. "I'll see you later, Leanna." He said, waving to her pleasantly.

The woman waved back, before heading back to her father's shop. Evan spurred the mule into a steady trot. The trip to and from town was so much faster and easier atop Jack.

Kuu ran ahead, enough so that his teleport wouldn't be heard, and slipped back into the house, laying before the fire as if he had never followed Evan. He could tell Evan had wanted him to stay, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He chirped a greeting as Evan opened the door and came in.

"Hey, I brought you something!" He said, before he brought out the book, going to sit beside Kuu with it.

Kuu chirped questioningly.

Evan opened it up; and their work began. Evan spoke his word for what was illustrated in the image. Kuu got the point quickly, keen eyes going from Evan, to the book. Kuu could only assume that the human was saying his words for things there were pictures of in the book. When the human looked at him expectantly, Kuu was smart enough to realize he was asking him what his word for the object in the picture was. He was glad to oblidge, speaking his word for the object more then once. He actually picked up surprisingly quickly; which impressed Evan. Not only was the Enderman senient, he appeared to be intelligent as well! By the time daytime wore into night time, Kuu and Evan were able to communicate very basic things. Evan was actually surprised how patient Kuu was. He expected him to grow tired of them reciting words back and forth, but he did not. He clearly wanted to learn, which made for a much easier time of it.

They were incapable of speaking eachother's languages. Kuu had tried; and the attempts were hard for Evan to understand. Instead, he figured they could learn to understand eachother. Even if they did not speak the same language, any understanding between them was a step forward.

It was Evan that grew tired first. His yawning alerted him that the sun was down and the moon high in the sky.

"I go to bed." Evan said simply. He pointed to himself, then pointed to the bed as he spoke. Kuu seemed slightly disappointed that the lesson had ended, but he could tell the human was tired. Humans got tired quickly, he thought; he seemed to sleep every time the sky got dark. On Kuu's end, he hadn't slept since his wounds had healed. He didn't need to sleep; at least, not often. He slept sometimes; though mostly if he'd expended a lot of energy, or was injured, neither of which was the case at the moment.

As Evan slept, Kuu carefully rifled through the pages, remembering the words Evan had spoken. He eventually grew bored of that, though, and dozed off on the rug by the fire.


	7. Kuu, the Match Maker

Evan noticed right away that Kuu very much liked that big, soft blanket he had gotten. He cuddled up to it, purred, and seemed generally very happy with it.

So he decided to let the Enderman have it. It was the supplies he had gathered that had paid for it, after all; and he HAD wanted to get something for his odd, shadowy friend.

The next few weeks passed in a flurry of activity; Evan decided to start work on the bedrooms. There were two; which was perfect actually. Since it seemed Kuu would live with him now, it was only fair that they each had their own space.

Making a bed for Kuu took him a couple days; but soon enough he had a bed long enough for the Enderman to lay on comfortably. Once Kuu understood that it was his, he was quite pleased with it and proceeded to pick it up, with complete ease, and place it near the fireplace.

Kuu was actually very helpful. He was very strong, and his claws could take down trees faster then Evan's axe, and he was more then willing to come right to his side and help build by holding logs up, or even picking Evan up and allowing him to work on the roof.

There were moments of complete culture shock now and then. Kuu didn't know the meaning of doors. He just blinked about places, which got a bit awkward when Evan was in the bathroom, or was trying to get dressed, or even bathe.

As the first bedroom was nearly done, Evan decided that he would try to see if he could get Kuu to wear clothes.

This, of course, did not work. Kuu didn't like them. As soon as Evan tried to get them on him, Kuu would shake his head and push them away. He didn't feel the need to cover himself. And he didn't see why Evan had to, either.

He decided to show Evan the joys of not having clothes. One slash of his claws, and an almost girly scream later, Evan was covering himself, red as a beet, and staring indignantly at the Enderman, who looked quite pleased with himself.

Kuu let out a triumphant chirp, before tilting his head a bit and looking down. 'What is that doing on the outside?' He wondered, though Evan couldn't understand him, but he knew Kuu was speaking in his own tongue.

All Kuu knew, was that the human suddenly looked agitated; and his face had turned a funny color.

"Gods damn it, Kuu!" Evan groaned, flustered and embarassed. He snatched up his clawed clothes and held them in front of himself. "I really wish you could understand me!"

Kuu tilted his head, watching Evan curiously. His face had turned a funny color, and what should have been tucked away safely inside was hanging there on the outside! Kuu started to wonder, was the human... aroused? Insatiably curious, he started to tug at his arm a but to try to get it out of the way.

"Your curiosity be damned!" Evan groaned, giving up. He looked up, red as a ripe cherry, and finally moved his hands aside, revealing himself to the Enderman. Might as well let the creature get a good look at him... he'd seen more of Kuu's... equipment then he'd wanted to.

Kuu stared for a moment, head tilted, the looked at Evan. He gave him a rather funny look.

'Humans are weird.' He chirped to himself. 'Why aroused? I don't get it.'

Kuu, for one, wanted nothing to do with his 'aroused' friend. 'Take care of that.' He chirped, almost sharply, before he was gone with a sharp _vwoomp_. He got fresh clothes from his partially completed room, and got dressed. As he came back out, he noticed Kuu giving him a smug little smirk.

"What?" Evan asked. He knew Kuu well enough to know that the half open mouth, revealing just a bit of his teeth and glowing inner mouth was actually an amused smile. It still made him flinch a little, but he knew it wasn't aggressive.

Kuu just kept smirking. 'That was quick.' He chirped. 'You were very pent up!' Of course Evan did not understand him. Kuu's expression turned thoughtful. Evan DID have a female friend; he remembered them speaking at the village. On more them one occasion. Perhaps he just needed a female.

And Kuu knew just the one. And with that, the Enderman was gone. The sound of the teleport made Evan jump, then stare at the spot where the glowing, fading partacles were the only sign the Enderman had been there at all.

"Now where's he off to?" Evan wondered.

Kuu came out of teleport near the outskirts of the town, sniffing the air carefully. That female had to be about somewhere! It took about an hour of searching, before he found her walking along a path to the small farm she and her father owned. Her father was the Trader, and she grew much of their stock.

Kuu let out a triumphant chirp. He'd found her! Hearing that odd, staticy chirp, Leanna jumped, looking around quickly with wide eyes.

Then her eyes met Kuu's. Leanna screamed. Kuu grinned triumphantly, thoroughly pleased with himself, before he walked to her. He himself had no interest in her, though her scent was most definitely female. He preferred his females taller, skinnier, and blacker. Not that he'd ever actually been with one before. He'd tried to court a female, once or twice, but they always rejected him for the taller, stronger, older males.

'Come on, don't be afraid!' Kuu chirped pleasantly. His head tilted to one side, he let out a little cooing sound. 'My friend needs to see you!' He moved towards her, reaching out to her with his hands, and even with claws retracted, the sight was utterly terrifying to her.

Leanna screamed. Oh did she scream. She screamed bloody murder, no matter how gently Kuu lifted her up. He scooped her up into his arms with complete ease. 'So much noise!' he thought to himself. 'Are all human females like this? Maybe this was why Evan lives alone!'

She pounded her fists against the Enderman's chest in an attempt to get free, but Kuu made no reaction to that. He was solid and strong; and her fists did nothing to him.

Finally, she went limp. Her screams went quiet as she slumped into his arms in a dead faint. 'Much better!' he cooed.

Now; to get her back home. He leapt into a teleport, and re-appeared in front of Evan... with a very unconscious and disheveled looking Leanna in his arms. Evan just stared, completely and utterly dumbfounded.

"Kuu!? WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Evan yelled in complete shock.

'I brought you your female friend!' He said. He gently set Leanna on her feet. The woman, in a dead faint, just crumpled to the floor. Kuu blinked. '…. Oops. I think she fell asleep.' He said.

Evan understood the word for female, and the word for friend - as well as the words fell and asleep. So he was able to piece it together.

He clutched his hair in stress and pulled at it. NOW what was he to do!? She HAD to have seen Kuu, if she was unconscious in his arms! She looked undamaged, which was good. Probably just scared out of her mind!

"She fainted, Kuu! You probably scared the shit out of her!" Evan said, pacing on and on. Kuu just watched him, eyes following the frantic human. "If only you could just understand me!"

'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.' Kuu said to himself. 'Maybe I should take her back.'

Just as Kuu reached out for her again, her eyes slowly fluttered open.

She pushed herself along the floor to scoot away from him, screaming bloody murder as she tried to get away from the shadowy thing bent over her.

"Kuu! Back off, you're just scaring her more!" Evan said, motioning with his hands. Kuu got the hand motions and took a few steps back, before moving to stand behind Evan to watch. By this point, the poor woman was hyperventilating, pointing at Kuu with a shaky hand and screaming on and on.

Finally, her eyes fell on the exasperated Evan, then went back to the rather confused Kuu who was standing behind him.

"EVAN!? EVAN! WHAT THE HELL!?" She screamed. "What... LOOK OUT! BEHIND YOU!" She pointed at Kuu.

He turned to look at Kuu, who greeted him with a chirp.

"NO! Don't look at it!" She said, her voice filled with panic.

"It's... It's ok, Leanna. He's... a friend." Evan said, feeling a bit crestfallen. Oh this couldn't be ANY worse... how the HELL was he going to explain this to her, much less her father!?

"A FRIEND!? That thing almost killed me!" She shouted accusingly towards Kuu.

Kuu just watched her, but let out a soft little "Rrrrrt" at the look she gave him. Not really a growl; but it was close enough to make Leanna shake even if it wasn't intended to scare her.

"I really don't think he meant any harm." Evan said.

"It came RIGHT at me." She said.

"He. And I think he.. brought you to me, for some reason." he said. "Whatever has gotten into you, Kuu?" He asked the Enderman, who simply smiled and chirped back.

'What about a thank you?' He chirped, though Evan didn't understand him. That smile had Leanna going into panic mode again.

"Just.. calm down, let me explain, please." Evan almost begged awkwardly. Leanna tried to slow her breathing and nodded slowly, still staring at Kuu like a deer caught in headlights.

"First off..." Evan explained. "His name is Kuu. He means no harm, honest. He fled into my home, to escape a storm. He was badly hurt, and, I think, dying. I tended to his wounds and helped him. He's been here for a few weeks and hasn't shown the slightest sign of aggression. Just... just trust me, allright? He won't hurt you."

Leanna looked unsure, but it was true... she was looking right at the Enderman, and he was not reacting. He just watched her curiously. At the moment she smelled strongly of fear; there was a brief apologetic look at that, followed by a soft coo.

"I've been working on trying to teach him how to understand me. It's been hard.. I am not really sure what I am doing. He can name things in a picture book I got, but that's names for things and animals; not words for communicating clearly. There are some times we seem to be able to understand eachother, but it's been... a challenge."

Leanna nodded, though she was still shaking. Kuu remembered that humans did not like to be cold. When Evan was cold he shook, too, and hid beneath a blanket or sat by the fire. Kuu stood with a light chirp, before wandering off to his bed, which still sat by the fireplace, and came back with his soft blanket.

As the fabric settled over her shoulders, Leanna yelped and jerked away. But then she realized what it was, and stared at Kuu for a moment.

"Er... th-thank you." She stammered. "Why did he..."

"He probably thought you were cold." Evan said. "That's my... well, his blanket. I got it for myself but he liked it so much I let him have it. That... and you can't really argue with claws that can slash through stone." The past part was a joke, which got a nervous laugh out of Leanna.

"He's... kinda sweet." Leanna said shakily, offering a weak smile. She was starting to realize she had nothing to be afraid of.

Evan then told her the story; from his first encounter with the shadowy creature, to how he had cared for him, and how he had been so afraid of the thunder. He explained how he'd thought the thunder was a dragon and had actually tried to protect him. He told her a few other stories, as well – things he'd seen Kuu do; and things Kuu had done for him. Leanna calmed as Evan talked. Kuu did, in fact, seem perfectly harmless.

"Just promise me something... please?" Evan asked Leanna after he told her his story.

"What?" The woman questioned.

"Just... don't tell anybody about him, allright? He doesn't mean any harm. I don't want the entire village hunting him down. He may be confusing, but he's proven to be nothing but kind, loyal and helpful since I've known him." Evan said.

"I won't tell anybody." She said. "But if he comes snatching up your friends and bringing them here..."

"I know, I know." Evan said. "And I will do my best to explain it to him."

Evan walked out the door, giving Kuu a long, firm stare. It was clear he wanted him to stay. Kuu grinned impishly. Seemed the human wanted to be alone with the female, after all! The Enderman picked up his blanket and flopped on his bed as Evan saddled up Jack, and rode back to town with Leanna in the saddle behind him.

It was several hours before he returned and put the mule in the stable with some grain, hay, and water.

"Please, please don't do that again..." Evan sighed out, slumping against the wall. "She's never speaking to me again. I just know it."

Kuu's smile disappeared at the clear stress the human was showing. He lowered his head, chirping and cooing apologetically. He sounded a bit sheepish.

Evan could tell Kuu was apologizing. He sighed. "It's... allright." he said as he patted Kuu's shoulder. "You probably didn't know any better."

Kuu's smile returned, accompanied by a purr. Lesson learned. He'd let Evan persue females on his own should he choose to.

Evan went to his kitchen to prepare some tea. After the day he'd had, he needed it. As the man stirred a couple sugar cubes into his tea, he couldn't help but smile a bit, a tired and amused smile. "You make every day more interesting, Kuu." Evan said.

Kuu watched as he drank the tea, and could not help but cringe inwardly as the man swallowed the liquid.

But his curiousity was piqued. The stuff did not smell of water. He was wondering if it was water at all. The color, not to mention the smell, was completely off. And Evan was drinking it. For a moment the Enderman forgot that humans could touch water; he was thinking from the mindset that water was deadly.

When Evan wasn't looking, Kuu very carefully reached a finger towards the cup. The searing pain that met his finger made him hiss loudly and jerk away. This caused the cup fall over, sending the liquid flying right at Kuu which sent the Enderman leaping away with a howl of fright. Evan yelled in shock as he suddenly ended up with something twice his height in his lap clambering up over his shoulders to get away from the tea. The sudden movement set the chair off balance, which sent both males tumbling over backwards and hitting the floor with a thud.

Evan had to rub at a few bloody scratches on his shoulder. He looked up to hear clicking claws and nervous sounds on the roof. He sighed, before going out to coax the Enderman down.

After a bit of convincing, the Enderman finally teleported to the ground, before teleporting inside. He gave the spilled tea a wide berth, growling at it softly.

Evan cleaned the tea, and went to get more.

"Oi.. don't touch it this time." Evan said. "Your curiousity be damned." Kuu didn't have to understand him to know not to touch anything he drank again.

Evan turned to look at Kuu, who was staring at his cup of tea warily. He couldn't help but smile. As utterly interesting as the day had been... at least it hadn't been boring. He found himself starting to chuckle, which earned a rather displeased sound from Kuu. He could swear the Enderman was pouting at him. The sounds he made seemed to clearly say "Not funny!"

But Evan found it hilarious. Kuu made another displeased sound before teleporting to his bed by the fire and flopping down sulkily. He gave Evan a long stare before grumbling to himself and turning his back on the human to stare at the fire. Evan laughed a bit more before he leaned his head back. He decided it was time to go to bed. It'd been a very long, and very interesting day. Evan was glad it was over. He just hoped Leanna would keep her promise and that Kuu's little... stunt, wouldn't put him into unnecessary danger.


	8. Human Females are Nicer

As spring turned to Summer, Kuu and Evan worked hard at learning to understand eachother. Evan actually took longer then Kuu did; though Kuu was ever patient with the human.

As they learned to communicate with eachother, they had many moments where things were lost in translation, or there was an awkward misunderstanding.

Sometimes, they had to revert to guessing games and random gestures, which was absolutely hilarious when they disagreed about something. Most often, this was the result of Kuu getting mischievous and doing something to Evan that freaked him out only to make the Enderman laugh his ass off.

No matter how many times one wakes up to creepy glowing eyes inches away from their face, one never gets used to it! And the worst thing was, Kuu didn't do it every night. It was completely random when he decided to, so Evan could go a week or two without a staring Enderman first thing in the morning... then suddenly have it happen for several days in a row. And Kuu found it hilarious. Every time the human freaked and nearly fell off his bed, Kuu would about fall over backwards laughing until he practically had tears in his eyes. It never got old! Well, to Evan it did, but not to Kuu.

Ever since that day that Kuu had 'kidnapped' Leanna and brought her to his home, Evan just could not work up the nerve to go back to the trading post. He was afraid to speak with her again. He knew he'd have to go eventually, but for now he had enough supplies.

Kuu, too, avoided the village. He knew there was danger there if he was seen; and he realized that it had actually been really stupid to show himself even to Leanna. He regretted it by the next day, and stayed in the house in hiding for almost a week. But no angry villagers came; and he realized he was safe. Leanna had not revealed his presence. At that, he was very relieved. He wanted to make it up to Evan somehow, but he couldn't think of how. But Evan seemed to have forgiven him. He was relieved at that. He didn't want one stupid action ruining his friendship.

Evan, on the other hand, realized how apologetic Kuu was, and kept reassuring him that it was fine. He knew the Enderman regretted his actions; and was truly remourseful. Of course, she would never speak with him again, but... that might have happened anyway. He DID live with an Enderman, after all. She would have most likely freaked out as soon as she found out either way. It was just sooner rather then later.

Evan was just now adding the very last touches to Kuu's bedroom; which was taking a lot of work. It was taller then the rest of the house; and he was gathering stone to give Kuu his own personal fireplace. He knew the Enderman would appreciate it; he loved the hearth in the livingroom. He had already noticed that Kuu loved to collect things, so he was adding lots of shelves in, and places to store things. That, and he needed to make a doorway tall enough for Kuu to go through without stopping. Evan's room was finished. It was Kuu's that was still in the works.

The day was a good day to go gather hearthstones. Kuu, of course, followed to help as always. He loved being outside. He loved the vibrant colors around him, the warm sun, the fragrant grasses, and trees, and flowers. His new home was nothing like his old home; black sky and whitish yellow stone in floating islands as far as the eye could see. Here, there were colors, plants, smells, and most importantly, companionship. There was so much more to look at... and in his experience Evan was a lot friendlier then his Colony.

Kuu was lost in his thoughts, looking up at the sky and watching soft, white cloads float across the brilliant blue. The ambient energy around him felt fresh and new, made him feel alive, awake, and well fed. The birds flitting from tree to tree had his attention too; He was perfectly content and happy in that moment. He purred almost constantly as the two enjoyed that beautiful late summer day. Evan found it adorable.

Evan had gotten a bit ahead of Kuu; he hadn't realized his friend had dropped behind to inspect a patch of grass with brightly colored flowers scattered through. When he heard the agitated staticy cooing of an Enderman, he didn't even think twice before looking right up.

"What's the matter, Kuu?" he asked.

Only, that wasn't Kuu. This Enderman was a full head and a half taller then Kuu; and a bit slimmer with delicate, almost feminine features. Its did not appear to have breasts, though its chest was slightly softer and rounder looking then Kuu's. Its hair was long; wispy shadows that flowed around its shoulders. It and had a slight flare to the hips; a graceful form. And this Ender was most definitely NOT pleased with Evan looking at it.

Its entire body went completely stiff. It stood tall, mouth wide open, eyes narrowed, as its claws grew out. No spikes appeared on its back. Evan knew that was definitely not the frightened posture he'd seen from Kuu. This one was aggressive. Its growl shifted into a vicious snarl, until it rose into that horrible, bone-chilling threat howl. And it was far more vicious. The sound was filled with rage and fury. Evan's face went white as he slowly and shakily backed away.

"Oh shit... Oh shit... Oh shit..." He whispered again and again as he fumbled for his sword. Suddenly, he felt his limbs freeze up as he was caught in that terrible gaze. No matter how hard he tried, he could not move. He was done for. The new Enderman was going to kill him.

Then, there was a flash of black. The gaze was broken, leaving Evan to gasp for breath and shakily try to regather his composure. Kuu stood as tall as he could, adopting the same posture as the taller Ender. He opened his mouth wide, narrowed his eyes, and howled right back. He took a step towards the other Ender, and howled again, this one more vicious then the first. The other Enderman vanished, only to reappear behind Evan and charge him, but Kuu was right in step. He whipped around, and teleported into his adversary's path with a vicious snarl.

Claws clattered against claws and teeth snapped viciously. Evan heard a hiss of pain from Kuu, followed by more growling before they separated. The two Enders circled eachother, staring eachother down.

The new Ender was the first to charge. It rushed Kuu, who met it with a growl and a shash of claws. The two fought like rabid dogs, their snarling and howling unearthly and horrible to hear. Evan tried to draw his sword, but it seemed stuck in its scabbard. That, or his shaking hands were fumbling too badly to get a good grip on it.

Evan finally managed to get his sword drawn, but was now at a loss. The two were too intertwined in battle for him to attack without risking hurting his friend. A cry of pain came from the newcomer, followed by a louder cry from Kuu. A splash of inky black blood hit Evan's cheek as their claws and fangs slashed and they kicked at eachother.

Finally, they separated. They were both bleeding, but Kuu seemed to be hurt worse. He was panting, too, but not backing down. Evan took that moment to charge at the taller newcomer, only to have sharp claws slash through his sword as if it was a stick of butter. He stared dumbly at it, until he was ripped out of his shock by a furious howl and razor sharp claws aimed right at his neck. But the claws never met their mark. The other Ender shrieked its rage as Kuu tackled it, fangs snapping at its neck.

The two went into another tumble of snarling and snapping and slashing. Another splash of Ender blood hit Evan's arm. Evan fumbled for his bow, but his shaking hands spilled the arrows all over the ground. He swore.

Suddenly, Kuu shrieked in agony, his eyes going wide as he flailed and thrashed. Things had taken a turn for the worse. The other Ender's fangs were buried in his neck as it growled. He was bleeding heavily and clearly frightened. Kuu was now fighting for his very life, gasping with his tongue hanging out, his struggles growing more feeble as he tried to catch his breath.

"NO!" Evan screamed, finally finding his courage in this terrible turn of events. He had to do SOMETHING. He had to give his friend a chance! He grabbed his water skin and threw the water at the adversary. It worked. It leapt away from Kuu and hissed furiously. It now stared at Evan warily.

Kuu staggered away, shaking himself a bit. He coughed and panted, eyes wide. But he didn't back down. He stood up, his legs shaking, and faced his enemy once again. The two circled eachother, growling back and forth. To Evan's surprise, he noticed the wounds on both were actually healing up as they circled eachother. The taller one's wounds healed faster then Kuu's did.

Then... as quickly as it had begun, the fight was over. Evan saw the shift in Kuu's behaivor in an instant as the breeze shifted. His body relaxed quickly as his pupils dilated. He took in breaths if air, taking in the scent of his adversary. The scent sent waves of heat rushing through his body and straight to his head, making him shake it. His growl turned into a rough purr, the sound very different from the purr Evan was used to. Deeper, rougher, almost growl-like in quality.

That was no EnderMAN – what stood before him was a female. And the scent of her estrus hung heavily on the air, intoxicating Kuu and taking over his every thought. He purred on and on, the sound wavering as he shifted restlessly from foot to foot. The young male's attack was cut off as if somebody had flipped a switch.

His change in demeanor did not go unnoticed by the female. She completely forgot about the human. Her claws retracted as she lifted her head, taking in his scent as well. The two circled eachother, once. Twice. Three times. Each move from Kuu had him growing more and more excited, his steps almost a dance. He was bloodied and wounded, but took no notice of it by now. His mouth was open as he practically tasted the scent on the air.

Then, he made his move. He stood tall, letting out a soft, wavering growl, with a few clicks and chirps mixed in.

The female's demeanor changed a bit, and she lifted her head and bared her teeth. For a moment, she had been impressed. The young male had guts. But he was small. Young. Inexperienced.

It all happened in a blur. Her lip curled with a deep growl as her claws extended again, slashing into Kuu's cheek. Kuu let out a whine of pain, the hormone-induced spell broken as the female vanished, leaving nothing but floating particles and a humbled male in her wake.

Kuu whined and dropped into a crouch, panting and keening. Though the odd keening was nothing like the cries he made when injured. These sounds were quite different, mixed with wavering growls and chirps. For the first time in a long time, Evan was almost afraid to approach his friend. But he was wounded, and Evan wanted to see to helping him.

After a moment the human finally approached the Enderman. He carefully placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you allright?" Evan asked in concern. He emphasized the concern in tone of voice and body language, showing Kuu clearly that he was worried.

Kuu panted a few times, before he looked at Evan. He whined softly.

Evan carefully took off his shirt, tearing it into shreds, and wrapping up the worst of the Ender's wounds. Kuu was hurt, bad. But his body wasn't as wounded as his pride.

"Come on, let's go home." Evan said. He knew Kuu could understand "go home". But Kuu didn't budge. He whined again.

"You need rest." Evan said. "You're hurt. We can do more work tomorrow." He tried once again to get Kuu to get up. Finally, Kuu whined his displeasure, but stood.

Evan balked, and took a step back. For a brief moment, he just stared dumbly at the sight before his eyes. Had it been just the very tip of it, like the first time he'd seen... that, he might have been able to brush it off. But, no... nothing was left to the imagination now. Kuu was completely and utterly hard, his entire length out in the open for the world to see. The area beneath the usually subtle and hard to see slit had filled out into two round orbs, which Evan quickly realized were most definitely Kuu's balls. He had just learned a hell of a lot more about Ender genitals then he had ever, ever wanted to learn.

Evan cleared his throat, and turned away stiffly, his face cherry red. He started heading towards home, trying to push that sight out of his mind. Kuu followed meekly behind, instead of teleporting ahead and exploring everything he could see like usual. He paused to lick at his wounds once or twice, cleaning the blood away with his long, prehensile, glowing tongue, before having to speed up to catch up with Evan. His physical wounds were healing. Already they were half the size they had been, but his wounded pride was the worst of it. And that constant burning need. And there were no signs of it going away, either.

Evan had hoped he'd be a bit less... exposed when they got home, but Kuu was still as restless... and excited, as ever. Once back, Kuu started to pace. Back and forth and back and forth, making those odd, restless wavering growls mixed with chirps and odd, rough purring. After a time, Kuu grew tired of pacing, and lay on his bed, curling up beneath his blanket. This came as a relief to Evan, who kept getting unwanted looks at Kuu's manhood.

Even laying in bed, Kuu was terribly restless, growling and keening and shifting constantly. It actually worried Evan a bit; most of the time, if he ended up with an awkward... well, boner, it would disappear on its own after a while. This just wasn't happening for Kuu; it just flat out wasn't going away.

"... Female?" Evan finally asked Kuu. Panting, Kuu nodded, then shifted restlessly. His body needed some sort of release; and badly. Unlike a human, it wouldn't just up and go away on his own.

Evan tried to think of a way to calm his friend, but he shook it off. There wasn't much he could do.

"I'll... leave you to that..." He said, awkwardly. He was just about to head to his bedroom when a knock came at the door.

"Who the hell..." Evan groaned, almost ready to just ignore it. The knock came again. Whoever it was clearly knew he was home, and wasn't taking ignoring as an answer.

Kuu went quiet and withdrew fully under the blanket as Evan opened the door. He nearly fell over himself in shock when he saw Leanna, had up and poised to knock again.

"Wha.. I-I thought you never wanted to see me again!" The man gasped.

"I never said that." Leanna said, smirking a bit.

"I just thought that whole thing with Kuu..."

"Kidnapping me and bringing me to your house?" Leanna finished for him, then laughed. "Yeah, that scared me quite a bit, but it was an interesting memory. Something I'll never forget. And I realized, well, it's not often you get the chance to meet an Enderman face to face and not be mauled. That, and I was worried about you. We haven't seen you around in months. Is Kuu still here, by the way?" She changed the subject at the last moment because she saw Evan rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly and giving her a sheepish look.

Evan nodded. "Yeah, he's still around. Though he's not exactly... presentable at the moment. He's acting a little... erm... odd." He explained.

Leanna gave him a questioning look. She was just about to ask something when Kuu, unable to hold back anymore, let out a whine.

Leanna was at the Enderman's side in moments. "What happened to him? He looks..."

"He looked a lot worse on the way here. Believe it or not, his wounds have mostly healed already. We had a bad run-in with another Ender. He... and his pride... got pretty hurt." Evan said.

That was when the scent of another female hit Kuu. She, too, seemed to be 'in season' as it were; her scent wasn't as intoxicating as the female of his species, but in his state of being it was enough to set him off the rest of the way. He turned to stare at Leanna, that wavering growl turning into a rough purr. His mouth was half open, pupils fully dilated again as he took in her scent. He shook his head, and they contracted back to normal, but one more breath of her scent had them dilating again.

Leanna took a step back nervously. "Evan? What's wrong with him?" She asked. "Why is he looking at me like that?"

Evan was just about to reply when Kuu suddenly jumped out of the bed. He paced, trying desperately to ignore her scent. She was human. He's already scared her once; he didn't want to frighten her a second time, but hormones clouded his mind. Leanna gasped, her eyes widening as she saw his... condition.

She was rendered completely speechless for several long moments as Kuu paced, not taking his eyes off of her.

"... Wow." She finally said. "He's... That..." She then noticed how uncomfortable Kuu seemed. "... Should I help him?" She finally asked.

Evan stammered for a moment. "I.. if... If you... Do you think you CAN help him?" he glanced at Kuu.

"... I have my ways." Leanna said and gave him a smoldering look that made Evan turn several shades of red. A further shift in her scent damn near drove Kuu wild, whose wavering growls grew louder, mixed with that odd, rough purr. "Besides..." She added. "He's a completely different species. Nothing will come of it."

"I'll.. er.. I'll... leave you to... to it..." He stammered. His hands found his door. He quickly went into his room, closing the door hastily. He had just seen a side of Leanna he never dreamed he would see, and as much as he tried to deny it, the thought excited him.

Leanna couldn't help but laugh as Evan retreated to the other room to give them privacy. She turned to the Enderman, who was still watching her. His gaze was odd, pupils dilated, mouth partially open, stance relaxed but alert. He moved closer, ready to leap back at the slightest change in demeanor. He was conflicted; Hormones raged in his mind and body. But she was human. He could very easily hurt her. Compared to him, she was delicate. And... he actually wasn't quite sure what he was to do.

Leanna seemed to sense his unease. She smirked to herself. He was just like any village boy having their first time, which was amusing to Leanna. Despite the difference in their lanuage, and Kuu's clear physical differences, he wasn't so different then a young human male.

"This is your first time, isn't it?" She smirked a bit. Kuu couldn't understand her, but he chirped in response. To her surprise, he seemed slightly nervous. Yeah, definately his first time.

"Don't you worry about a thing." Leanna re-assured him. "You'll do fine. Just let your instincts lead you." Her tone was re-assuring as well, which seemed to put the young Ender male's mind to ease.

Kuu slowly approached her, before circling her once. She followed his movements, until he took a step closer. She realized he was displaying his finer features - trying to get her interested in him. Intimidating, but breath-taking. Impressed, she stared for a moment. She couldn't deny her own growing excitement. Finally, she realized he was waiting for her acceptance. His stance was eager, but guarded.

"Please be gentle." She whispered to herself. She removed her clothing, before she got up on the Enderman's bed. She remembered what Evan said about posture - how that seemed very important to Kuu's understanding of one's intentions. So she made her posture inviting. Her entire body buzzing with excitement, she prepared for what was to follow.

Evan sat on his bed, trying as hard as he could to ignore the sounds coming from the other room. When things finally went quiet, he risked opening his door to peek into the living room. Kuu, for one, looked satisfied. He was laying lazily atop his blanket, purring contentedly.

Leanna was laying beside him, trying to catch her breath. Evan flushed, but her eyes turned towards him.

"I'm not going to lie. I'm going to be very sore later. He's... big." She said as she stood up, a bit wobbly in the legs. She got her clothes on. "What brought that on, anyway?"

"Well... the encounter we had wasn't just with another of his kind. She was, apparently, female. I don't know what happened. She was intent on ripping me apart. He jumped in and they fought to the point I thought she was going to kill him, until his demeanor completely changed. He tried to approach him, she clawed up his cheek, and teleported away. His... problem, just wouldn't go away. I guess the presence of another female, regardless of species, finished setting him off. I don't know much about... erm..." Evan cleared his throat as he rubbed at the back of his neck again. "Endermen's mating habits but... He trailed off. "Heh... this is... really awkward to talk about, isn't it?"

"Don't talk to me about awkward." Leanna smirked.

Evan flushed.

"At least this time I wasn't kidnapped by an Enderman trying to play matchmaker." She said, then laughed.

"I still have no idea why he did that." Evan said.

"Honestly? I'm glad he did." Leanna said. "It was a very interesting experience. And it's rather fun to have a little secret I keep away from everybody else."

"Really?" Evan asked, surprised. Leanna was full of surprises today.

"It let the two of us get to know eachother better." She said. "I never thought of you as the sort to take risks. I like it."

Kuu finally shifted, lifting his head. '… Your females are nicer.' He commented.

Thanks to their hours slaving over trying to learn eachother's languages, Evan was able to understand him. He had to laugh. "I would say so!"

"What'd he say?" Leanna asked curiously.

"He said human women are nicer then Ender women." Evan said. "And I'd say he's right. Human women don't try to rip your face off."

Leanna laughed again. She gave Evan a hearty thump to the back. "I like your sense of humor." She said.

She stayed at his house for a few hours. They talked almost that entire time. Evan had to admit... he liked her more and more. She was very spirited; nothing like the other village girls. One thing eventually lead to another, and the two ended up in Evan's bed. But finally, it was time for her to leave. It was getting late.

"We'll walk you home. It's getting late, but with Kuu around the monsters don't bother me." Evan said.

"If you'd like." Leanna smiled.

"Come on, Kuu." Evan said, motioning for the Enderman to follow. The shadowy creature stood, then shook himself lightly before following Evan and Leanna to the village. They made good time, and before long they were on the outskirts of the village. Evan walked her to her door while Kuu stayed in the treeline.

"Come visit again, hear?" Leanna asked.

"Of course." Evan smiled.

Leanna went inside, as Evan went to meet Kuu at the treeline.

"... I think she likes me." he said, sounding surprised.

Kuu let out a pleased little "Prrdh!" before he took hold of Evan and leapt into a teleport. The man barely had time to help before everything just sort of... warped out of focus. It was the oddest feeling, as if you were spinning and floating all at the same time. It was like rushing at extreme speeds... and yet standing completely still. It was completely and utterly disorienting. Everything warped back into focus, and suddenly they were in his house. His head spun worse then the times he'd drank himself to oblivion in the town's tavern.

Evan blinked twice, staggered, and fell over backwards. Kuu caught him before he hit the floor. Kuu stared down at him, head tilted to the side. 'Are you allright?' He asked, in Enderspeak.

"D-don't DO that!" Evan gasped. He suddenly rushed out of Kuu's arms and stumbled dizzily into his bathroom, where he hunched over and threw up. Kuu followed, until the smell came to him. He crinkled up his nose and went back to the livingroom to wait for a very disoriented Evan to stumble in and flop dizzily on the couch.

'Lesson learned...' Kuu thought to himself. 'Don't teleport the human without warning. It makes them sick.'


	9. Enderman vs Snow

As late summer ended and fall began, Evan finally got Kuu's room finished. The last hearthstone set, the last shelf put up. Kuu was glad to help carry his bed in; which he did with surprising ease. He was able to understand that the bedroom was his; and he instantly made use of it. While he preferred to spend time with his friend in the livingroom, Kuu loved having his own space

Things were never boring with the Enderman around. Kuu's constant mischief and playfulness. Evan was coming to realize that Kuu was actually very young. No older then 18 or so. In some ways, Kuu reminded Evan of a young cat. Adult, but with bouts of kittenish playfulness. Kuu was also very affectionate.

He was very fond of cuddling and being in general contact. Evan soon realized that it was purely platonic. Kuu never meant anything by it, other then just friendly. Evan didn't mind. He found the odd, staticy purring oddly relaxing. Kuu generally liked being near Evan; or Leanna when she visited.

He was a sweet and caring soul; gentle and social. Evan found it hard to believe that he had once been so frightened of the Enderman. He really was thinking he had Endermen all wrong. Even the time he had been attacked, before he met Kuu, he'd survived. The Enderman that attacked him could have easily killed him. Looking back, he remembered the posture. It had been in that same defensive crouch; eyes wide, mouth open. He realized he must have frightened it. It was probably trying to defend himself.

He remembered other stories he had heard; about people attacked by Enderman. More often then not, they survived. When put into a situation where they could have easily been ripped apart, the Enderman had left them alive before vanishing. He remembered Kuu's attack of the Undead in his mine; before they had seen eachother face to face. How quickly he had knocked it down. It was destroyed by the second slash of his claws. If an Enderman could kill a human so quickly and easily... why didn't they? He was thinking that they were, perhaps, more like humans then most people realized. When threatened, a human would go for their weapons first, and ask questions later. An Enderman just happened to have natural ones. Claws, and sharp teeth.

Despite his clear physical differences, Kuu wasn't that much unlike a human. He clearly had a full range of emotion. He had a full spoken language that Evan was just starting to learn to understand; and even a written language. He'd seen Kuu carving odd symbols into a piece of wood which he'd placed above his door. Evan assumed it was his name. He wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed vaguely letter-like.

Evan had suspitious that Kuu was new to this world; that he had come recently. He showed clear curiousity and fascination with things that most people would simply overlook.

As Autumn took hold, Kuu was delighted. He loved the crisp air, the warm sun and cool air. But most of all, he loved the leaves. He loved everything about them. The way they fell from the trees and fluttered to the ground; he'd pounce them like a kitten. The way they crunched under his feet. Leaf piles never stayed intact. Without fail, they would be torn apart by an overly excited Enderman leaping headlong into and rolling around in them. Evan would have given up raking his yard entirely if it wasn't for how amusing it was to watch Kuu play with the leaf piles. Leanna, too, found it both adorable and hilarious.

Kuu bounded all over the yard, graceful and fast with deep growls that Evan soon learned were playful. While different in tone then an aggressive or scared growl, the playful growl was still rather unnerving until Evan got used to it. When Kuu got into his playful moods, Evan had to be on his toes; because sometimes he'd get pounced out of nowhere. He was never hurt though; Kuu always made sure of that. But it startled the hell out of him.

As the leaf piles got bigger, Kuu figured out he could hide in them. Which had Evan keeping a wide berth from the leaves when he couldn't find Kuu anywhere. Because going too close usually ended up with him on the ground in a tumble of long limps and play growls.

Sometimes Kuu would wrestle with the man, though he could easily overpower Evan. Kuu was nice, though; he never got too rough for him.

Kuu also had a new little quirk that showed up. Whenever Evan was reading, or sitting, or doing something else that had him staying in one spot, Kuu would walk up and place a leaf on his head. Evan brushed it off each time, before looking up at Kuu with a raised brow. The Enderman's laughter always followed, before he teleported back outside.

Annoyingly, though; Kuu loved the Autumn so much he wanted to bring it inside. He brought leaves in by the handful. No matter how many times Evan cleaned them up, he always found more.

Gathering wood for the winter was a breeze with Kuu around. The Enderman had razor sharp claws that slashed through the wood as if it was butter, and the incredible strength to pull even large trees down to the ground. Before long the new storehouse was full enough for two winters. Kuu had helped build that, too.

Kuu was also a natural born hunter. His teleporting ability came in handy. His extremely heightened sense of smell came in handy, too. Evan could spend hours trying to find a track, but with a few breaths of the air near the ground through his nose, Kuu could lead him to anything in the forest. The winter stockpile of meat was filled quickly. Evan realized that Kuu was also very skilled with his claws. He was eager to help him tan hides. He only had to show him once how to scrape the fat and bits of meat away from the skin. The blood from their kills, and the grime of work always vanished after Kuu teleported. Evan realized that that was how an Enderman 'bathed'; though he had no idea what happened to the accumulated dirt and grime. There was never anything on the floor after Kuu teleported.

His crops that year had been good; especially since Leanna had helped. She knew exactly what she was doing and her advice had been very valuable.

All in all, it had been a good year. As the clouds grew heavy, Evan had time to just sit back and relax. As per usual, Kuu was right next to him, cuddled up with his head resting on his shoulder. Purring away contentedly with his eyes half closed. As Evan read, the purring quieted until he looked over to see Kuu had fallen asleep. The Enderman didn't sleep often, but when he did he always looked peaceful and content.

Evan smiled himself as he looked to the window. A delicate white flake of snow floated slowly down to the ground. Winter's first snow. Kuu made the occasional soft sound in his sleep accompanied by a slight twitch of an arm or a leg as the snowfall got heavier.

Evan was content. The fire crackled cheerily in the hearth, snow floated gently to the ground outside, he had a good book, and a good friend.

Even as the snow storm grew worse, Evan remained comfortable and content. The house was sturdy and warm; there was plenty of firewood and food. It would be a good winter. The wind whistled and whipped around outside as the snow piled up. It had snowed about eight inches when the Enderman finally shifted, stretched, and woke up with a long, curly-tongued yawn.

"Good morning, sleepy-head." Evan smirked. "Or Afternoon, that is."

Kuu cooed back in reply before he sat up and shook himself with another yawn. Then his head perked right up as his eyes fell on the window.

_Rrrrrrt? _The sound was a question; an expression of curiousity. Kuu approached the window, staring at the snow. His expression was clear; he had never, ever seen anything like it. Evan could tell that much by his reaction. His chirping and cooing grew excited, eyes bright.

Before Evan could stop him, he teleported outside. Evan ran out after him, ready to bring him inside instantly. But the snow wasn't hurting the Enderman. He stood in it, staring up at the sky. His eyes shone with wonder as he reached out a hand. A delicate snow flake settled on his skin. Kuu could see every beautiful detail before it was blown away by an icy breeze.

He stood still for a few moments, completely transfixed by the snow. Evan was just relieved that the Enderman seemed unharmed.

Then, Kuu's wonder turned to playfulness. He kicked at the snow, then picked up a handful. The cold didn't seem to bother him. He tossed it into the air, then chirped excitedly, before tossing it again. He briefly dropped into a crouch, before he was off. He bounded through the snow, pouncing at the falling flakes like an overly excited kitten. He teleported into the trees, shook the branches, and watched the snow fall to the ground. His clear excitement was adorable. Evan couldn't help but laugh.

Kuu soon figured out that the snow could be clumped up into a ball. His mischievous eyes soon turned to Evan, before he let the snowball fly. It hit the side of Evan's head with a poof.

"Wha..." He turned to stare at Kuu, who was in a playful crouch. Kuu then growled and chirped excitedly, before taking off in a run. He didn't run often; he usually just teleported when he wanted to get places.

"Why you..." Evan laughed, as he picked up a snowball of his own. He threw it at Kuu, who teleported out of its way before poking his tongue out at the human mischievously.

"Cheater!" Evan laughed with a roll of his eyes. Of COURSE the Enderman would teleport out of the way of a snow ball! The two threw snow balls at eachother as they neared the small lake a ways behind the house. It was where Evan liked to fish. By now it was completely frozen over and could easily hold Evan's weight, even if he jumped up and down. Not that he would; the ice was slippery and falling on it would hurt.

So far, Evan had not managed to hit Kuu once, though he himself was covered in snow. Kuu darted out into the ice, before letting out a surprised yelp. His claws skittered along the ice as he tried to catch his balance. This provided enough of a distraction for a snowball to hit Kuu square in the face. The Enderman lost his balance completely and fell back on his butt with a surprised grunt. He teleported back off the ice. By then, the snow had stopped falling and the sun had come out, causing it to warm up a few degrees.

This caused the snow to melt slightly. Kuu let out a surprised hiss of pain and jumped away from the spot he was standing on. He looked down, confused. He couldn't figure out where the water was coming from! He jumped again, before letting out a confused whine. He started to feel stinging elsewhere on his skin, which made him shake his head and teleport again.

Each bit of snow that melted bit into his skin; and it hurt. Kuu jumped away from it a few times, growing more confused. He tried picking up a handful of the snow; only to have it melt against his hands. The snow... was turning into _water_! Kuu stared at the snow with wide eyes, before nearly knocked Evan over backwards in his desperation to get back inside. He teleported instead of opening the door, like usual. Eyes wide, Kuu turned to stare out the window. The door opening and closing made him jump a bit and glance back at Evan.

How could something so beautiful and fun turn into water?

Evan wasted no time coming over with a towel, which he handed to Kuu. Kuu got to work cleaning the blood off his skin, before looking at Evan.

"Snow. It is..." He tried to think. "Hard Water."

'Snow is water?' Kuu questioned. It was simple, but something Evan could understand. They had learned enough of eachother's vocabulary to communicate simple things.

Evan nodded. Kuu stared back out the window. He looked both sorely disappointed, and conflicted. It had been so pretty, and so fun. He did not know that water could get hard. Or that it didn't hurt him while it was hard; it seemed to need to be liquid to do that. As he looked out the window, he found his like for the snow quickly going away. In fact, he didn't like it at all. It turned into water, and water hurt. He curled his lip and growled at it, before he went to lay sulkily in front of the fire. The bloody burns healed within minutes; they had been minor.

After that, Kuu refused to go outside. As long as that evil white snow sullied the ground, the Enderman wouldn't set foot outside that door. In fact, every time Evan opened the door to go out and tend to his chores, Kuu would curl his lip and growl at the snow, eyes narrowed, before turning his back on the door. Evan felt bad for him, but he found it amusing at the same time.

"You'll be fine if you don't let it melt on you." Evan told Kuu. Kuu let out a little huff.

Evan then got an idea. He had a perfect idea for cheering his friend up. He went into his room, and came out with a guitar he had bought from the trading post. With Kuu's help, he had a nice stockpile of coin.

He sat by the fire, and started to play, his fingers dancing along the strings and producing a nice, relaxing melody. Soon, the rythmic strumming was joined by Evan's voice as he started to sing. Softly at first, but soon his voice gained strength. It had been a while since he'd played and sang. It soon became apparent that Kuu very much liked it. He was absolutely delighted. Listening to the sound of the guitar and his friend's voice, Kuu settled into the rug by the fire. His eyes were half closed with pure contentment as he purred on and on.

Evan had to smile. Apparently, Endermen liked music. As the song ended, he set his guitar down and leaned his head back contentedly.

"Sorry I'm a bit rusty." Evan said. Kuu didn't care, though. He'd loved it either way.

Evan then had another idea. He had everything needed to bake a cake. He had gotten supplies for a cake before at the trading post, but never got around to making it. He'd completely forgotten about it. But now was a good time. It was winter, his storehouse was full, and he had plenty of time on his hands.

He mixed the batter and made the frosting; and soon, the delicious smell of baking cake filled the house. Kuu clearly liked the smell. He lifted his head and sniffed the air. Evan took the cake out to cool, before frosting it and cutting a slice for himself, and a slice for Kuu.

He held the plate out to Kuu. The Ender looked from the plate, to Evan, and back to the plate.

"You eat it." Evan said. "You don't have to, but it tastes good. It's a treat."

Having seen Evan eat many times, curiosity finally got the better of the Ender. He reached out a hand and dipped a claw into the frosting. Kuu froze for a moment, before he let out a purr of pure delight. He devoured the rest of his slice quickly before licking the remnants of frosting off his lips and fangs. He stared at Evan expectantly, who laughed.

"I TOLD you you'd like it." He said. He gave Kuu another piece. That quickly followed the first, gone in a few snaps of sharp teeth.

Whatever Evan didn't eat, was quickly snapped up by razor sharp teeth. Well, at least the cake wouldn't go to waste. Evan didn't think to try to stop the Ender; Enders didn't need to eat. So the thought that Kuu could make himself sick eating too many sweets didn't even cross the man's mind.

Then... came the sugar high. Kuu felt excitable and and full of energy. Chirping excitedly, he stood and started to pace.

He paced and paced and paced, until the clacking of claws threatened to drive Evan mad. Kuu became playful as well. He tore around the house, growling and pouncing Evan at every turn. The man found himself hitting the floor and pinned beneath the Enderman more times then he wanted to count.

Filled with pent up energy with no other outlet, Kuu decided the house needed redecorating. He completely re-arranged the house. Three times. Evan the human was lifted and moved when Kuu decided that wherever he was sitting needed be somewhere else. After a few hours of this, Evan just completely gave up on trying to get Kuu to calm down and did his best to ride it out.

He now regretted letting Kuu eat an entire cake.

After the sugar high, came the sugar crash. Kuu slowed down, before he started to feel very tired. The Enderman yawned and shook his head a bit. He felt very odd. He wasn't sure what this new feeling was, but he didn't like it. He whined and rubbed at his stomach a bit.

He lay by the fire, staying very still. When he didn't move too much, his stomach didn't feel so bad. But soon, even staying still didn't help. Kuu shifted and squirmed in clear discomfort.

He stood, thinking that maybe moving around would help. But it most definitely did not. It made it worse. He whined in displeasure. He wanted that aweful feeling to go away.

He wrapped his arms around his stomach and whined again. This time, Evan actually looked up. Then his eyes widened.

"Oh no.. not on my -"

That was when Kuu whined urgently, hunched over, and and threw up. He heaved and retched until the entire cake had come back up. All over Evan's floor.

Kuu looked utterly displeased. He coughed a few times, before he stepped away from the mess. He looked at it for a moment, then covered his nose. Whatever he'd just done, it was nasty. He wanted nothing more to do with it. He teleported to his bed and flopped down. He felt a bit better after that, but he was very tired all of a sudden. His glowing eyes soon closed; and the Enderman was out like a light.

Evan just sighed as he got up to get his mop and bucket.

"Oi, Kuu! Don't eat so much next time!" he said as he cleaned, before he looked over at Kuu's room to see the Enderman was dead asleep. "... Of course."

He finished cleaning the mess before he went into his own room. Before he went to bed, he made another entry in his journal.

'Enderman vs. Snow. The snow won.' He wrote. 'They can handle snow until it melts.' He detailed the happenings of the day, before finishing the entry with 'Note to self – Never, ever give an Enderman too much cake.'


	10. Vyyr

_[[Author's Note:: Been looking forward to this chapter for a while. If you want to know what Vyyr looks like, PM me, and I will give you my Skype. I will link you the dA stash link. I wish I could just post the URL, but this site has something against URL's of any sort, even when it is meant to show a picture of the character featured in the story. Really stupid, if you ask me. But meh. Have to do it the hard way. xD]]_

Winter dragged on, and on, and on. Kuu refused to step foot outdoors as long as there was snow on the ground; and the entire winter had the ground blanketed in pristine white. Needless to say, Kuu got restless. When he got restless, he paced. The endless pacing drove Evan crazy. He moved things around a lot, too. Evan lost count of how many times the house was re-arranged during the long, cold winter months.

Leanna came to visit frequently over the winter. There wasn't much else for her to do other then help her father around the shop, and she got bored with that after a while. She liked coming to see Evan and Kuu. She helped teach Kuu what she could; and the Enderman was getting better. If they kept their words simple, he could understand them. Evan still wished they could hold actual conversations, though; he was sure Kuu had an interesting story to tell. Kuu could understand the two of them better then they could understand him.

Ever since Evan had introduced Kuu to cake, the Enderman developed an insatiable sweet tooth. Though he was careful not to make himself sick again. He had not liked throwing up, in the least. He also became terribly curious about anything else Evan ate. If the cake was so good, what about the other foods?

Most of the time, it wasn't too much of a bother. Kuu made a game of sneaking up and stealing a bite of everything Evan ate. He never ate more then a bite or two, most of the time, unless he liked it. If he liked it, Evan had to guard every last bite of food on his plate just to get at least a snack because Kuu was quick and sneaky.

Evan finally had an idea for a prank in mind. And it was a good one. He himself liked spicy food. The hotter the better; though he didn't eat it too terribly often. He took a trip to the trading post, which was long and cold, but worth it since he came back with a good amount of ground chilis to add to his next meal. He knew Kuu would try to steal it as soon as it was finished. He could see Kuu watching him from the other room with that usual mischievous and playful stance.

Evan finished cooking, and sat down to eat. One bite had it clear – he'd spiced it up good. It burned in his mouth and made his nose run; but he loved it. As expected, Kuu snuck up, snatched a bite, and ran off with it with his unmistakeable staticy laughter.

Though it didn't last long. Next, came a surprised yelp of pain. Followed by a louder sound as Kuu started to pant. He shook his head a few times, his long tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted. He tried to wipe his tongue off, but that didn't help. He turned to stare at Evan as if he was completely insane. Evan could not help but laugh. He laughed and laughed, all the while receiving very sulky stares from the Enderman who... looked hilarious with his tongue hanging out and drooling. His drool was oddly thick in consistency compared to human saliva; not water based.

After that, Kuu thought twice before stealing food from Evan again.

Finally, though, the snow of Winter melted as spring started to take hold. The ice receded as the trees burst into bud and the fresh green of grass started to grow on the ground watered by the winter runoff.

Kuu, of course, was off as soon as he was able. He was sick of being cooped up inside and had a whole winter's worth of pent up energy to release. Instead of teleporting around once outside, he ran; stretching out his legs and releasing all that energy. He teleported off somewhere after a bit, only to return with a shining chunk of quartz.

_Brrr-uk! _He sounded quite pleased with himself before he was off again. Evan, too, had grown restless. It had been too cold to do much work outside. He decided to go down to his mine and get to work on the vein of gold he had found before winter set in. Kuu would find him; he knew it.

He only worked a few hours; it was still quite cold, and his hands stung after a while. But he managed to get most of that vein of gold mined.

There was still no sign of Kuu. He was probably off gods knew were letting out a winter's worth of cooped up energy. He pushed his cart ahead of him, whistling to himself when he saw a flit of shadow and heard the familiar chirp of an Enderman.

"I knew you'd find -" He looked up, only to see that the glowing eyes staring back at him most definitely did not belong to Kuu. "Oh gods... you're not Kuu..." He felt cold all over as his chest tightened up and his heart beat a mile a minute. He remembered the last time they'd met an Enderman that was not Kuu. It had resulted in a vicious battle that could have cost his friend his life.

The Enderman looking back at him was taller then Kuu, and appeared to be a bit more muscled. Its entire body was covered in scars. Its face was scarred up, as well as both shoulders, its hips, its arms, and its legs. He had a line of scars just above its crotch, and across its upper chest; like great big tooth marks. It looked as if it had been in the mouth of a great beast. Its right leg was crooked in two places. It looked scarred up as well; as if it had been broken badly and not healed quite right. One claw on its right foot was missing. Three claws were missing on its right hand; though this was less noticeable with the claws retracted. It looked like it had been through a lot in its life. Around its neck were two chains. One attached to two shining green stones; Ender Pearls, Evan realized. One was quite large, easily as big as both his fists together, and the other half the size. On a smaller necklace, so it sat higher up was a strange pendant. It was made of shining silver, in the shape of a fox's head surrounded by tails. Set in the center of the fox head's forehead was an oval moonstone gem. The Enderman had hair that was roughly shoulder length, slightly wavy and just a little messy with a single lock hanging between its glowing eyes. The hair appeared silky soft, flowing slightly in the gentle breeze that had whipped up.

There were two things Evan noticed as he slowly backed away from the Enderman. First was its posture. As he looked at it, the Enderman's mouth had remained closed. Its stance changed slightly as it lowered its head and relaxed its body. It looked alert, ready to teleport away at the drop of a hat, but relaxed at the same time. Confident, even. It took a single step back. There was no growl, or hiss. In fact, Evan saw absolutely no aggression in the strange Enderman's eyes. Something about its gaze reminded Evan of an old soldier. His gaze was... old. Wise. Gentle.

Evan jumped as a flash of black rushed between him and the new Enderman. He recognized Kuu instantly by his defensive posture and fierce growling. A look of surprise passed over the other Enderman's face.

'You know this human?' The newcomer chirped and cooed, with the occasional click and soft growl mixed in. And yet... SOMEHOW, Evan could understand him! Completely dumbfounded, the human could only stare in shock.

He heard Kuu's chirping and cooing back; recognizing 'Yes, he friend' in the midst of it all.

'Oh?' The other Enderman questioned. The next series of chirps, coos, growls, and clicks from Kuu had the newcomer listening in rapt attention. Kuu kept motioning towards Evan. There was the occasional chirp from the other Enderman. Kuu's posture changed quickly from defensive, to friendly. His chirping and cooing changed to friendly as well. He stepped aside, allowing the other to approach him. He noticed the new Enderman had an odd limp, clearly favoring his right leg. He moved a little stiffly.

'I am Vyyr of the Shadowkin. Your kin call our kin Endermen; I am not sure why' He chirped softly. 'Your young friend tells me you saved his life.'

Evan stared, completely dumbfounded, with got a soft chuckle from the newcomer.

'You wonder why you understand me.' Vyyr said, tilting his head slightly. His gentle gaze did not leave the human.

Evan could only nod.

Vyyr lightly tapped the pendant that hung from his neck. 'This is a Translation pendant. Anything I say you can understand. Anything you say, I can understand; even though I learned your language long before I got this.'

"S-so, you are... Vyyr?" Evan asked. Vyyr nodded. "It sounds oddly like a purr." the human observed. That got a soft laugh out of the new Enderman.

'Fitting comparison.' He commented.

"I- I'm Evan." Evan said, finally finding his manners. "Of the... humans. And.. yes, I do believe I did save him. He ran into my home from the storm. I bandaged up his wounds. Sorry if I am a bit nervous, we had a bad run in with a female of your kind a while back."

'Our females are more aggressive then our males, this is true. But even a female will not attack unprovoked.' Vyyr said. Then his lip curled slightly. 'Unless they are worshipers of the Beast.'

Kuu chirped nervously and stepped back at that. Vyyr glanced towards him as he chirped and cooed nervously, and finally turned and pointed at the back of his neck. Evan remembered the mark there from when Kuu had been frightened of the Thunderstorm when they first met.

'The Mark?' The newcomer narrowed his eyes a bit. But he seemed to calm fairly quickly. 'You may bear the mark but you follow the true nature of our kind. You were born to a Colony that worshipped the dragon; but you are not with it now. The mark is meaningless.' There was another pause as Kuu spoke something back, followed by a nod from Vyyr.

Evan was starting to feel really cold, though. The sun was going down, and the temperature was dropping rapidly. Evan could see his breath on the air.

"I think we should get home." He said, after a moment. "You can come along, of you want, Vyyr."

That got a nod from Vyyr.

'I will come. A bit of company would be nice.' Vyyr said. 'It has been entirely too long since I have seen one of my own kind in these parts; or a human who is so accepting of us.'

Evan headed back to his house, Kuu teleporting ahead excitedly and Vyyr following behind slowly. His limp was more clear now, as he walked behind Evan stiffly.

"Male, or Female?" Evan asked Kuu, though he thought he knew the answer. He was assuming male.

'Male.' Kuu confirmed.

"He is calm." Evan said.

'He is old.' Kuu said.

"Odd. He doesn't look old." Evan said, as he looked back at the Enderman. Aside from his limping steps and slow movement, he seemed youthful. His eyes were bright and healthy, his particles strong and plentiful.

Vyyr, though, was moving more slowly. He winced and rubbed at his back, with a soft sound of displeasure.

"Are you allright?" Evan asked. That got a nod from the Elder.

'I am fine.' He cooed softly. 'Old wound. It hurts sometimes, but it will pass.'

"How often does it get... like that?" Evan asked.

'Often enough.' The elder Ender said, putting it simply. He straightened back up, to follow them the rest of the way. They arrived home soon enough. Kuu teleported inside. Vyyr stooped and walked through the door. He glanced at the fire with an approving chirp then looked around the livingroom. He took in several breaths of air through his nose; scenting the place, Evan realized. He saw Kuu do that whenever he was somewhere new. He always looked around and scented the air. Perhaps all Endermen did that.

'Young Kuu'Ruhhr's scent is strong here.' Vyyr said. 'I assume he lives here with you?'

Evan nodded. "He does." he said.

That got a smile from Vyyr. Then he noticed that Evan was looking at his pendant.

'I got this pendant recently.' He said. 'From the Fox-with-Many-Tails.'

"Fox of Many Tails?" Evan questioned.

'She calls herself Shining-moon.' He paused. '… Some things are lost in translation.' He tapped the pendant with a claw. 'Could you bring me paper, a quill, and ink? I must write her name for you to understand it properly.'

Evan nodded. He was actually surprised – an Enderman that could understand him, AND write? He tore a page out of the back of his journal, and brought it over.

Vyyr wrote carefully. Evan noticed that his handwriting was actually very neat, and strangely pretty.

"Moonshimmer." Evan read out loud. "What do you mean by fox with many tails?"

'Exactly as I say. Sometimes, she looks like a human-who-smells-of-fox. Sometimes, she is a fox. Sometimes large, sometimes small. In all of these various states she has many tails. I have counted five.'

"A.. Kitsune?" Evan wondered. "But they're not... aren't they just legend?"

Vyyr shrugged. 'Then Shining-moon is a living legend.' He said simply. 'As for the writing...' He looked down at the paper, where the kitsune's name was written. 'I learned to understand, and write, the speech of the humans. For a very long time, this was how I communicated. I kept parchment, ink, and quills with me everywhere I went. After Shining-moon gave me this pendant, I no longer have need of paper and ink. It is much easier then writing. I leave my paper and ink in my home.'

"Why did you learn to understand and write our language?" Evan asked curiously. He hoped the elder wouldn't grow annoyed with his questions, but he was terribly curious.

'Humans, and Shadowkin did not understand eachother. Humans feared the Shadowkin; Shadowkin feared the humans.' He explained. Evan still found it odd to hear the strange chirping and cooing tongue of the Enderman, but understand it as if he was speaking perfect common. 'Too many were dying on both sides. I wanted to stop the fighting.'

"So you wanted to make peace?" Evan asked.

'Yes.' Vyyr replied. 'I felt that if we learned to understand eachother, we would not fight eachother. That perhaps this world could be a safe haven for our kind. Too many of the Shadowkin have died at the claws of the Dragon. I fear to say the Shadowkin have become rare. We came here, when we could escape. We feared the humans, and fought to defend ourselves. The humans, in turn, feared us. Your kind think the Shadowkin are monsters. But we are not. We are simply afraid; in a strange world filled with strange and dangerous things and creatures. We run from the true Monster of Darkrealm; the Dragon. I believe your kin call Darkrealm the End.'

"A dragon..." Evan mused. "Is that... where all your scars are from?" He asked.

Vyyr nodded. 'I attacked the Beast.' He said. 'I was strong once, but now I am an old cripple.' The odd thing was that he did not seem upset over his damaged body. In fact, he spoke with an odd sense of amusement in his tone. After a moment, the elder changed the subject. He was not fond of talking about the beast. 'You do want to speak with young Kuu'Ruhhr, right?' He questioned.

"Very much so." Evan said. He didn't notice the subject change; the idea of actually talking to his friend was too promising and exciting to him. Kuu chirped excitedly. He, too, wanted to be able to talk to Evan! They could understand eachother to a point... but learning had been slow for both of them. They could communicate basic things, but Kuu desperately wanted to communicate more.

'I will go to Shining-moon; She will make him one of these Translation Pendants.' Vyyr said.

"She'd do that?" Evan asked, trying not to sound TOO excited.

'Gladly. She took a long time to make mine because she had a hard time finding the right spell. But she said it is very easy to recreate.' Vyyr said. 'It will still take her a few days to finish the spell, though.'

"That's perfectly allright! Kuu and I have lived together for a year now." He said. "We can wait a few more days."

Vyyr smiled. 'I will go to Shining-moon now. I will return when the sky turns light again tomorrow; there is something I want to teach Kuu'Ruhhr.'

He slowly and stiffly stood. As he made his first step towards the door, he hunched over with a sharp growl of pain. The sound startled Evan, who stood quickly in worry. Panting a bit, Vyyr carefully tried to make a step, but his legs just... sort of stopped working on him. He realized he couldn't move them anymore. He quickly tried to find something to lean on or catch his balance on, but there was nothing near enough. He crumbled to the floor with a soft thud and a grunt of pain before Evan could catch him.


	11. Sharing Memories

_[[Author's note:: I know, this one is long. It covers a lot, though; and is very important for character developement. Enjoy! ]]_

Kuu was the first to rush to Vyyr's side, chirping his concern clearly. Kuu tried to help Vyyr up, but his legs were completely locked up. They hung completely limp, and the movement made Vyyr hiss in pain. Kuu gave up trying to help him stand. He just stared at Evan questioningly.

Evan was at Vyyr's side moments later.

"What happened? Kuu... we need to get him to bed." He motioned towards Kuu's room. Kuu understood. He wasn't tired; and the injured one clearly needed the bed more then he did.

'Old wound.' Vyyr said. 'This happens sometimes. I should be fine soon.'

He grunted as Kuu carefully picked him up and laid him on the long bed. That had a slight sigh of relief escaping the elder. The bed was more comfortable then the floor. Especially on his stiff and sore back.

"Are you going to be allright? Sometimes old wounds are a lot worse then they seem." He said in clear concern.

'Sometimes it gets like this.' Vyyr said. 'It always passes.'

"Maybe I should check it just to be sure..." Evan frowned. "There could be something seriously wrong."

'You may check.' Vyyr said. 'And yes.. I know it will hurt. I promise, I will not hurt you. I know you mean well.'

Evan nodded a bit, before very carefully moving closer. "Can you ask Kuu to help me roll you onto your front?" He asked Vyyr, who nodded. He did as he was asked. Kuu was there in a moment; Once Vyyr was laying on his front, Evan carefully looked him over.

As his hands moved around the scar right over his spine, he felt Vyyr jerk and hiss in pain. But the Enderman made no signs of attacking. He just closed his eyes and took a breath. 'Continue.' He said, after a moment; and Evan did. He felt around the spot. It was swollen and putting off heat. He wasn't sure if it was infection, or just the pain causing the increased temperature. He felt Vyyr tense a few times, even let out a soft growl. But the Enderman was ever patient as Evan explored the wound.

He wasn't sure but he thought he felt something hard beneath.

"Do your legs get stiff like this every time?" He asked the elder.

'Sometimes, yes.' Vyyr replied calmly. 'But it always passes. But I appreciate your concern.'

"I feel something hard." He said.

The Enderman suddenly smirked, his eyes sparking with sudden mischief. 'That's what she said.' Vyyr said. Evan just stared dumbly, before the elder broke into laughter at the look on the human's face. 'What? Didn't expect that?' he questioned, clearly amused.

Evan regained his composure. "No... no, I did not." He said, clearing his throat. "Anyway. There is something there, that I don't think should be." He clarified. "Those scars look like tooth marks..."

'I was in the mouth of the Beast.' Vyyr confirmed.

"I think you might have a fang embedded in your back." Evan finally said.

'This is what my old friend Eva said, a long time ago.' Vyyr commented. 'But her eye sight had grown weak; she was unable to do anything about it.'

"Thing is... if we don't get that fang out, it could cause permenant damage. It already causes you paralysis." Evan said.

'Temporary, always temporary.' Vyyr said.

"... Temporary or not, it could be dangerous. What if one day, you wake up never able to move again?" Evan scratched his chin. "I would take you to the town's doctor but..."

'Enderman, I know.' Vyyr said simply. 'I would not be well received.'

"I... can talk to Leanna. I know she said she was an apprentice to the town doctor for a while. She might have an idea for how to take care of it." Evan finally decided. "If she and I can remove it... do you want us to?"

'Would the pain go away?' The elder finally questioned.

"I think it would, yeah. And you wouldn't have your legs stopping on you anymore, either."

'It would be nice not to be in pain anymore.' Vyyr mused thoughtfully. 'If you are able, then yes. Please do. Even if it hurts, the pain would be worth it.' He looked hopeful at the prospect.

"You get some rest." Evan said. Vyyr nodded, before he closed his eyes. He let out a soft sigh, before he was asleep.

After a few hours, Evan heard Vyyr calling Kuu into the room, by his full name rather then the shortened version Evan used.

Kuu stood, glanced at Evan, then went into the room, head tilted as he looked at the elder.

'You remember how I said I wanted to teach you something, right?' Vyyr questioned. Kuu chirped his affirmative.

'What did you want to teach me?' He asked his elder.

'A way for you to tell Evan your story.' He said. 'A way to communicate with him a little better until the fox with many tails finishes your translator.'

'But... how? We can understand eachother, but not very well.' Kuu said.

'Our kind has the ability to share our memories, thoughts, emotions, and experiences through our Heartstone.' Vyyr said.

Kuu's eyes widened. 'Really? How?' He asked.

'Come closer. I'll show you.' Vyyr said. Kuu nodded, before moving closer, and crouching beside the bed. 'Help me roll over.' Vyyr said. He was still paralyzed.

Kuu did so.

'You know where your Heartstone is, right?' Vyyr asked.

'Of course I do.' Kuu touched his chest. 'We all have it.'

Vyyr nodded, before he carefully took hold of Kuu's hand. He placed the younger male's hand on his chest, right where his heart was. 'Humans can not do this.' He explained. 'But we can. And Evan can see. Now; what you do is focus on what you want him to see. Look back, way back, over your memories. About how you felt, and what you experienced. It should all come clearly to you. If you focus hard enough, and his eyes stay closed, he will start to see your memories. He will see it all as you saw it, through your eyes. This is a very intimate connection; only to be shared with those you trust. You do trust him, right?'

Kuu nodded. 'With my life.' He confirmed.

'With trust, the connection should be easy.' Vyyr said. 'Now. Close your eyes.'

Kuu did so. He saw brief flickers of Vyyr's life, though most of them were kept away. He showed him various experiences he had had; flickers of his once large and thriving Colony, with many Shadowkin living in harmony with eachother. There was a brief flicker of the Dragon's arrival, followed by feelings of fear and panic. These were skimmed over. Kuu could almost feel the emotional pain that accompanied them. He saw flickers of his life after he had left Darkrealm, too. It all left Kuu wanting to know more.

As it ended, the young male opened his eyes and stared. 'You were there when the Dragon took over?' He asked, in shock.

'I was. But I prefer not to speak of it.' Vyyr said.

'… My story is not nearly as interesting as yours, and I only saw a little bit of it...' Kuu said.

'But to Evan, it will mean the world.' Vyyr said. 'Now; bring him in here; and do as I taught you.'

Kuu nodded, before he teleported in front of Evan. The sound startled him out of his book.

'Vyyr say come.' Kuu said to Evan. Evan set the book down, before standing to follow Kuu into the room, where Vyyr greeted them both with a soft chirp.

'Close eyes.' he said. He looked at Vyyr, a bit unsure, but he offered him an encouraging look.

Evan, a bit unsure, glanced at Vyyr. Vyyr just looked back. 'You hard the boy.' He said.

Remembering Vyyr's words, Kuu took Evan's hand in his. He let out a breath, and gently placed it against his chest. Evan wasn't sure what was about to happen, but he just went with it as he felt the Ender's warm skin against his hand.

'Focus.' Vyyr whispered gently to Kuu. And focus Kuu did.

For a moment. Evan felt his entire body start to tingle, almost as if he was falling into a deep sleep. For a moment, Evan wondered what was happening, before he saw faint shapes in his mind's eye. The shapes slowly took form.

_There were tall, dark figures everywhere, most of them standing still, or walking slowly. The ground was made of an odd yellowish-white stone that was not damaged by the claws of the Shadowkin. The sky was completely black. There were no stars, no moon, no sun. Islands of this strange stone floated in the blackness, as far as the eye could see. What little light there was was dull and gray. _

_As all of this came into sharper focus, Evan felt himself picked up. He was a child, he realized. No... this wasn't him. It was... Kuu. His skin was black, his arms long and spindly. He was clearly very young. He felt himself being carried none too gently._

_Next, there was a sense of curiosity, and building fear. Something was wrong, very wrong. He felt himself held up by clawed hands as the one carrying him let out a long sound, then waited. His nervousness built, eyes flashing left and right. He saw glimpses of others gathered all around. _

_At first, there was nothing. Tense moments passed, before a horrifying face emerged from the darkness. The face was filled with sharp, gleaming white teeth and blazing purple eyes that stared from shining black scales. The sleek, beautiful, and deadly face of a dragon. The beast's mouth opened wide and it's hot breath brushed against him. Its breath smelled of blood, fear, and death. He started to squirm, panicking. Terror filled his every thought. Then, the beast roared. The sound nearly deafened him. He was overwhelmed with terror, squirming as much as he could. He had to get away! He was too frightened to so much as make a sound. He made feeble attempts to escape, but the one holding onto him wouldn't let go and was far older, and far stronger then he._

_The Dragon's mouth closed and sulfurous air huffed out from its nostrils. Its eyes flicked towards the adult Shadowedkin holding the him, before its mouth opened once again in a hungry growl. The adult hesitated. There was fear there, he could smell it. He felt that hesitation. That was his chance. He squirmed around until he could sink his fangs into the hand as hard as he could, small body shaking in terror and desparation. The adult tried to dislodge him but he refused to let go and she was unable to. The taste of her blood on his hand encouraged him to keep trying. He bit down harder. She let out a shriek of rage as she slammed him into the ground. The pain seared through him, but he refused to let go. He hit the ground twice more before his fangs severed two fingers from her hand. He lay on the ground dazed for a moment, before he staggered to his feet and ran. He ran as fast as he could to get away from her before she could catch him again. He spat the two fingers from his mouth. He stared at them where they lay on the ground in a smear of blood. He could hardly believe what he had just done in his desparation to get away. _

_The adult did not go after him. The dragon shrieked its rage as its massive paw slammed into her. She screamed her pain and shock as she hit the ground. Its claws left horrible bleeding wounds deep in her side. Dazed, she was sent flying again. It drew its paw back once again. She was determined. She would not just lay down and die. She struggled to her feet. Panting for breath and bleeding heavily, she realized she had taken so much damage that her wounds would scar. The Dragon opened wide its maw and snapped at her; but the injured and bleeding female managed to teleport somewhere to lick her wounds and nurse her wounded pride.  
><em>

_He found somewhere to hide, a small hole in the strange stone that most of his kind could not fit in and watched in horror as the dragon went into a rage. The beast snappe up and eating several from his Colony. Those that survived turned accusing eyes on him. They blamed him. Especially the female with the bitten hand. She blamed him for nearly being killed by the beast; for the loss of some of her Colony, and for her beautiful form which was marred by his teeth and the dragon's dreadful claws._

_He grew up hated; an outcast. Blamed for the Colony falling into the Dragon's disfavor. He was bullied and picked on incessantly. He wanted to leave. He wanted to join those who stood against the dragon, but he was too scared. What if they rejected him? What if they hated him? He spent his time hiding away whenever he could. Alone. So very alone. _

_The turmoil was terrible; constant fights broke out between the rival factions. Many of the Shadowedkin were dying in these vicious battles and those wounded were quickly snapped up by the dragon if they didn't escape in time. Every death stuck in his mind and deepened his fear of the beast._

_He stayed in hiding as much as he could as he grew up; but no matter where he hid, he was always found. He was always dragged out, bullied, and blamed for the turmoil. He hated it. Normally, he could get away. After he teleported away a few times, the older Shadowkin grew bored of tormenting the small male._

_But this time... was different. He was dragged viciously from his hiding place. No matter how much he kicked and struggled, they would not let go. _

_He was brought to the female; now marred by scars on her side and leg and a scarred up hand that was missing two finger. Her stare was accusing, cold, and angry._

_'You brought the wrath of the dragon on us! You will appease it!' She said fiercely. ''You are worthless! A shame to me, and a shame to your Colony!'_

_He cringed at the harsh words._

_He was dragged to the dragon kicking and struggling, fear building. The dragon was far, far more terrifying then the other Shadowkin. He was now brought to the dragon's very lair where it lay upon a vast pile of Heartstones. He felt sick just looking at it, the way the dragon used the Heartstones of their fallen people as something to be trampled under foot and layed upon like some sort of bed. He had a horrible, sinking feeling his was about to join the rest of them. The dragon lifted its head and stared at him, then opened its mouth and moved closer. He smelled its breath huffing over his body. He shuddered all over and swallowed. He felt sick with terror. The dragon brought its muzzle close to sniff him; relishing its offering frozen in terror before it. _

_Then, there was rush of adrenaline. He screamed his terror, but also his anger. He would NOT die this day! _

_He felt hard scales against his sharp claws. He smelled hot dragon blood and felt it on his hand. The Dragon screamed its rage as jerked its head back. Its eyes burned with fury as it snapped its sharp fangs at him. The three Shadowkin holding him screamed their rage. _

_In that moment of distraction, he snarled and struggled furiously. His spines came out fully as his fangs snapped and his claws slashed. He smelled blood, which encouraged him to keep fighting. He felt their holds loosen. This was his chance. He had to take it. He leapt away from them, and ran. He had to get out of here. He had to leave. Darkrealm would be the death of him. If the dragon didn't kill him, his family would. Filled with the instinct to survive, to live, he ran._

_An energy well.. He could see it and sense it. He had to get there. The Energy Wells were gateways to the Overworld... the Dragon couldn't reach him there. He had a chance. He could escape this place for good. A huge paw smacked him and sent him flying. He screamed in pain, but teleported before sharp fangs snapped into his flesh. _

_His heart hammered in his chest, fear aiding him in his desperate bid for survival. Close... So close... The enraged roar of the dragon filled him with even more terror and speed. He teleported again just in time, the dragon's teeth snapping shut where he had been a moment before. The Beast roared in rage and frustration at missing its prey once again. He begged his body for every ounce of speed it had. He felt the tingle growing stronger and stronger until he hit the Energy Well. He closed his eyes for a moment and leapt into a teleport, hitting the rift with a gasp. He felt the dragon's fiery breath, but only faintly._

_Everything spun. Dizzying, confusing. Not like a normal teleport, this was... exhausting. He felt as if every bit of energy he had was ripped away; and it hurt. Oh it hurt. He screamed the entire time, thrashing as he tried to find something, anything, to hold on to. It felt as if it would go on forever! He'd done something wrong... He would be stuck like this forever! A jolt of terror tore through him, making him scream. The spinning grew worse and worse as his breath was torn away from his lungs._

_Finally, that horrible feeling ended. He felt something strange beneath him. Cool, and strangely soft. But his eyes were closed. He gasped for breath, coughing and panting shakily. He tasted blood. Then, he realized he'd survived. He was alive... the spinning had ended. Slowly, his eyes opened._

_Bright, searing light burned into his eyes, so very used to the perpetual darkness of his home. No... not his home anymore. He couldn't go back. He gasped and closed them again. He felt his entire body shaking with exhaustion as his claws dug into the odd substance beneath him. _

_Energy buzzed all around him. More energy then he had ever felt around him all at one time. It made his entire body tingle, and for once he didn't feel half starved. He lay there for some time, just taking in all the energy he could;replenishing himself. Expecting the light this time, he opened his eyes. It was bright, but he found himself slowly adjusting. There were so many colors, so many new feelings. _

_The grass beneath him was soft and cool; the sky above, intense blue. He had only heard talk of this place, but to actually see it was something... amazing. He just stared at everything, on and on. Even though the intense light burned his eyes and hurt, he didn't want to take his eyes off of the spectacle around him. _

_For hours he lay there, taking in the energy around him until he finally felt strong enough to stand. And so he stood. His legs shook beneath him, but held his weight. He touched a tree, feeling the rough bark against his fingertips. The bright green buds, the flash of colors and flapping wings of birds. Fluffy, white clouds floating against that brilliant blue expanse of sky. He heard an odd trickling sound, a few feet away. He turned to look at the shining liquid, sparkling in the light of the sun that warmed his black skin._

_But he knew not to touch it; he had heard of water. He had heard it talked about, a painful, burning substance on the Overworld that could kill a Shadowkin very quickly. He was surprised that something so deadly was so beautiful. He watched it for a few minutes, enthralled by the way the light danced on its surface, before he walked away from it. _

_He didn't know where to go, or what to do. He was here now, but he had no purpose. He'd have to go... well, somewhere, he supposed. So he just wandered. Slow and aimless, looking at everything there was to see._

_He liked it here. It was bright and beautiful; and there was no dragon. But after a while, things got terribly lonely. Even back among his own people he wasn't completely alone, even if he was outcasted and hated for defending himself as a child. It was so strange for him to not even have another being anywhere near. He found himself pining for the company of another. There were various creatures that he found, but they all ran away if he got close. He had heard the dwellers of this land were very, very dangerous; but so far they all just ran away from him._

_That was when he heard a new sound, and smelled a new scent. A creature like him, but smaller and not so dark. Scent told him this one was male. He was afraid and curious. So he hid. He tried to stay quiet, but silence was unnatural to him, and the creature, the human he'd heard them called, heard him._

_He caught a glimpse of blue eyes, and was filled with terror as the creature looked at him. What if it attacked him? Would everything he had gone through be for nothing? He opened wide his mouth and howled. The human nearly fell over himself trying to get away. Thoroughly unnerved, the Enderman teleported away._

_As much as he frightened him, the human intrigued him. It was so much like him, really – there were a lot of differences, but a lot of similarities as well. His curiosity continued to grow. He felt drawn to the creature; both by curiousity and loneliness. He observed him at every chance; trying to learn more about him. He was far too afraid to approach the human directly, though a part of him longed to._

_To show he meant no harm, he started bring things to the human,. Sometimes he waited, but he never got the nerve to approach the human. He had spent most of his life hiding... he was used to it. _

_He followed the human to a cave he sometimes visited, under the ground; when he smelled something completely and utterly un-natural. Something that should have been dead and yet walked. The smell sickened him, and it was approaching the human. It looked hungry and evil. Disgusted, and worried for the human he had been following for so long, he tore the unnatural thing apart. He terrified the human in the process, though, who left his belongings. It was only polite to bring his things back to him._

_Over time, the human seemed less nervous about him. Still afraid, but seeming a little curious as well. As the human started to calm, so did he. But still, he could not bring himself to approach the human._

_Then came a day he would never forget. He had grown used to the skin going dark and light and dark and light and dark and light again; but during the light-times, the sky was never dark. The sky was usually bright blue, not dark grey. Something felt... off. The very smell of the air set him on edge. Then there was blinding flash of light and a loud, shattering boom. Suddenly panicking, he looked around. Had the dragon followed him? That sound... came roaring from the sky. He felt terror in every fiber of his being. The Dragon was not supposed to be able to enter the Overworld! Panic rose within him._

_Then, a drop of agonizing, burning water hit his skin. He screamed in pain and fear. Several more drops of burning, searing water followed. Gasping, he teleported to try to get away from this new horror. But it was all around him. No matter where he went, those horrible burning drops hit him. There were more and more of them until he felt as if his entire body was in searing agony._

_No matter where he went, he couldn't escape! The pain was almost too great for him to even think. He felt weak from loss of blood and dazed from the pain that wracked his body. This place... Water fell from the sky! He couldn't believe it... All this struggle, escaping the dragon, only to die like this! His thoughts turned to the human, and to his home; and in one last, desparate bid for survival, he teleported._

_Overcome by pain and fear, he could do nothing but tremble and pant heavily. There he was. The human. And he was staring at him. Fear came next. He opened his mouth wide and howled, but the wound was weak. There was no escaping. He hadn't the strength to teleport. He lost the strength to stand. At that moment he just... gave up. There was nothing left for him. He was lost, and alone. He was so overwhealmed by it all he was unable to do anything but curl up as tight as he could and cry until everything went black.  
><em>

_When he woke up, he was on something soft. His wounds, cleaned and bandaged. There was a flash of fear, but then he realized that the human had helped him. Slowly, his fear melted away to be replaced by relief. He couldn't help but express his thanks in sounds that came as naturally as breathing to him. _

_He had a home. But more importantly, he had a friend. Even if they could not speak the same language, he was happy. He felt content. But more then anything... he finally felt like he belonged. He was accepted, loved, treated as an equal. For once in his life, he didn't have to live in fear and loneliness. He didn't have to hide anymore._

Slowly, the dreamlike vision faded away, leaving Evan completely speechless. His eyes opened slowly to see his hand still on Kuu's chest, held gently by the young Ender's hand.

"That... That was your history, wasn't it?" He asked. Vyyr translated.

Kuu nodded with a soft chirp.

Evan was silent for a few moments longer, before he just gave hims friend a hug. Kuu chirped softly in surprise, before he let out a purr and returned the hug. Strong but gentle and caring. He felt the vibration of the Ender's constant staticy purring.

Kuu had been through so much and yet here he was, alive. And most importantly, happy. The friendly hug lasted for several minutes before they finally separated. Kuu looked happy and content.

He thanked Vyyr; and he meant it. The elder just smiled at the sight and leaned his head back. All in a day's work.


	12. What do you do with a Drunken Enderman

_[[ Author's Note:: Another long chapter. Hang in there, the real action is starting soon! ]]_

A few hours after Kuu shared his memories with Evan, Vyyr was able to get up and move around. He was still stiff and very sore, but relieved that he could move again.

Evan had been thinking to himself the entire time. COULD he remove the fang? It clearly needed to get done, and he couldn't take him to Vivian the town Doctor. She was good at what she did but she was a terrible gossip. But Leanna had been an apprentice for Vivian for a while, until she decided she preferred farm work over doctor work. She had basic knowledge; he was sure she could do something about it.

As Vyyr came out of the room, Evan looked up. "I think I am going to have Kuu take me over to talk to Leanna." He said. "She doesn't know about you yet, but she does know about him. She likes Kuu, so I think she'll be fine with you, too."

Vyyr nodded. 'You don't have to do this, you know.' He said, watching Evan carefully.

"I know, but I want to. If I don't do this, it could get a lot worse. You could end up paralyzed for life." Evan said.

Vyyr made a face at that. 'I do not want that.' He said simply.

"Neither do I." Evan said. He turned to Kuu. "Teleport me to town?" He requested, putting it simply.

Kuu chirped in response, before taking Evan's hand. Evan closed his eyes and braced himself for the dizzying sensation of the teleport. He still had to bend over and catch his breath before he thanked the Enderman and went into the trading post. As the bell rang to announce his entry, Dan waved a hand.

"Welcome back! How've you been?" He asked. "I see winter treated you well."

"Been good." Evan said.

"I hear Leanna was helping you out with your crops." Dan said.

"She was. She's part of the reason they were so successful. She really does know what she is doing. Where is she, by the way?" Evan asked.

"Out back getting the early spring planting done." Dan replied.

"I needed to ask her something." Evan said.

Dan's eyes practically sparkled. "Oh?" He questioned. "About time you asked the girl out. I've seen the way you've been looking at her!"

Evan flushed. "N-not... That I had.. I ..." He cleared his throat. "Just had... a question."

"Sure you did." Dan smirked. "You two have fun, now."

Evan went out back to find Leanna who was, in fact, hard at work planting.

"Evan! Nice to see you." She smiled. "What brings you here?"

"You were an apprentice to Vivian for a while, right? How does she feel about Endermen?" He asked.

"Oh no, what happened to Kuu? Is he allright?" She asked in worry. "As for Vivian... I definitely wouldn't go to her. She'd probably treat him, depending on what was wrong, but she's a terrible gossip. The whole town would know as soon as she was done, and that would not be a good thing. I know he means no harm and is a sweetheart, but..." She shook her head. "The rest of the town wouldn't think so."

"It's not Kuu, actually." Evan said. "A different Enderman."

".. Another one? I should start calling you the Ender Whisperer." Leanna smirked.

Evan got a good chuckle out of that. "Guess you could say that. Anyway... He's an older male. He has something embedded in his spine. It needs to come out, because he just got over being paralyzed for almost a day."

"I should probably take a look at it." Leanna mused. "I'll be right back."

She opened the door. "Hey, Dad! I'm going over to Evan's for a bit!"

"Allright, you two have fun!" Dan called. "I expect grandkids!"

Evan flushed bright red.

"Dad!" Leanna scolded. "Really?"

Evan awkwardly lead her towards the treeline, where Kuu greeted her with happy chirps and purrs.

"Nice to see you too, buddy." She smiled and hugged Kuu, who chirped his delight at the contact. He liked Leanna; and not just because she'd been his first time.

"Allright, Kuu, teleport us home?" Evan asked his friend.

Kuu chirped and put a hand on each of their shoulders. Leanna was used to teleportation by now; Kuu had taken her home after a lot of her visits to Evan over the winter.

She recovered quickly. "So where is this other Enderman you told me about?" She asked.

Evan pointed towards the couch, where Vyyr sitting. The elder chirped a greeting. "He's the one." Evan said.

'And you are Leanna?' Vyyr asked. Leanna just stared, dumbfounded. '… You didn't tell her about my pendant, did you? You sly old dog.' Vyyr smirked lightly. Evan blushed.

"How..." She started.

"His pendant." Evan said. "He says he can get one for Kuu, too. But I want to get that fang in his back taken care of first. That allows us to understand him, and if he didn't already know how to understand our language, it'd allow him to understand us."

"... Neat." Leanna said. "So, what's his name?"

'I am Vyyr.' Vyyr said, simply. 'I assume you've come to look at my back?' He questioned.

"I did want to take a look at it, yeah.. see if I can do anything about it." Leanna said.

Vyyr nodded, before turning and crouching down so she could get a closer look at it. She straightened afterwards, and nodded. "I think we can do it." She said. "But there's the question of finding a way to ease the pain of the removal."

"Do you have anything that can do that?" Evan asked.

Leanna shook her head. "No, but my Dad says Luka makes the strongest Moonshine in the entire Kingdom. He doesn't sell it to Taverns, since he calls it a 'liability.'"

"Do you think it would work?" Evan asked.

"Well, if it is strong enough, it shouldn't have enough water to do any actual harm." She said, thoughtfully. "And it might numb him enough for us to do it. From what you've told me of Kuu, he'll heal quickly so he shouldn't bleed too much. That is the problem with using alcohol to numb a human; it makes them bleed more, and faster. But an Enderman seems to heal within minutes of injury."

Evan nodded. "From what I have observed, yeah. He healed completely from fighting another Enderman within a few hours." He said. "More minor injuries heal in minutes. I've seen him bite his lip by accident, and within five minutes it's as if he never did."

"So it should work." Leanna said. "Think you can take me by home? I'll come by tomorrow with the supplies we need to get that fang out of his back."

"Sure." He said. "Kuu?" He looked to Kuu, who chirped pleasantly and teleported them back. Leanna went inside, before Evan went to the Blacksmith's shop.

He pushed the door open as the bell rang to announce his entry.

"Ey, Evan!" The burly man greeted him with a smile. Evan noticed he had sharp eyeteeth. "What can I get for you today?"

"Leanna says that you sell the strongest Moonshine in town." He said.

"Strongest Moonshine in the entire kingdom." He corrected.

"I'm looking for something really strong. But smooth." He said.

"I have quite a variety for you to choose from." Luka said, as he started setting out bottles of various colors. "How much are you looking to get?"

"I have a few friends over, we're looking to get pretty wasted." It was actually... not that far from the truth. He DID have friends over, and they were planning on getting at least one of them very wasted. He was just about to say more when _vwoomp! _There was Kuu.

Instantly, Luka tensed, staring Kuu down. His fingernails looked oddly thicker as his canine teeth lengthened a bit. Evan, though, didn't notice. He was too busy focusing on the fact that Kuu had just up and appeared inside the Blacksmith's shop. Kuu let out a startled growl, before taking a step back, a bit unsure.

"Kuu!? What are you doing here?" Evan gasped. Kuu always avoided the town; he had yet to reveal himself to anybody but Leanna! Evan had to wonder what possessed him to reveal himself to Luka now. Kuu, though, looked at him completely confused.

"... Is he friendly?" The man asked, his voice gruff. Almost growl like.

"Wha...?" That was not the question he had expected from the man.

"I asked you is he friendly? Will he attack?" Luka asked.

"Yes, he is friendly... No, Kuu won't attack. He's... a friend." Evan said.

'Not smell human!' Kuu chirped, almost indignantly. He looked almost sulky at Evan's scolding tone.

"What do you mean by that?" Evan asked.

Kuu pointed at Luka. 'Not smell like human!' he insisted.

Evan gave him a funny look, but looked back at Luka. The blacksmith looked surprisingly relaxed. "Well then, if he means no harm he's welcome to stick around. I was defensive, because I've been having trouble with an Enderman around. She's got a few nasty scars on her and smells like a female."

That got another odd look from Evan, but the man didn't skip a beat. "But the old scarred one comes by here sometimes, so I'm used to 'em."

"Old scarred one?" Evan asked. "Do you mean... Vyyr?"

"Oh! You know the old bastard?" Luka let out a laugh; speaking of the Enderman with such familiarity that Evan suspected they were friends. "Interesting old fellow. You should hear the stories he tells when he's had a bit much to drink."

"... As for scars, on that one you said you were having trouble with... what did these scars look like?" Evan asked. He felt curious. A scarred up female; was it the same one that had attacked Kuu? Had Kuu actually managed to deal some damage to her?

"Looked like she was on the bad end of a big set of claws." Luka said. "She was missing two fingers on her left hand. She looked like she was looking for something. Sniffing about everywhere. She charged me when she saw me, but I scared her off."

Evan's entire form stiffened. Missing two fingers? Evan's blood ran cold. Why would the female missing two fingers be here!? This was not good. Kuu caught on to his nervousness quickly, letting out a soft growl and looking around defensively. Evan quickly shook it off so as not to disturb his friend.

"I guess this makes my request easier to explain." He said, changing the subject. "You know Vyyr... so you know about his... problem?"

"That he's crippled?" The man asked. "Yeah, I know about that. He says my drink lets him feel young again, for a time. So you're getting this for him?"

Evan nodded. "Leanna and I have figured out he's got a Dragon's Fang embedded in his back. We're going to try to remove it. We thought your Moonshine might numb him enough for us to do so without causing him too much pain."

"So you're gonna need a full bottle. I have it in flavors. Vyyr seems to prefer the strawberry. Tell you what, I'll let you have it on the house this time. I'll come back with you, maybe lend a hand if I can. Been a while since I've seen the old cripple." Luka gave a wolfish grin. "Been wondering what he's been up to lately. Might as well let your friend... Kuu, was it?"

The name got a confirming chirp from Kuu.

"Let him have a bit too. It'll be amusing, trust me. You ain't seen nothing until you've seen an Enderman get drunk." Luka finished,

He brought out the bottle, which he handed to Evan. He stepped out, turned the sign to closed, and moved to follow them.

"You can have him teleport us." Luka said. "Vyyr's teleported me over to his place before. I'm used to it. Like any proper man, he doesn't like to drink alone."

"You know where Vyyr lives?" Evan asked in surprise.

"Yup, a cave five miles out of town." He said. "Other side, though, so about ten miles away from your place. It's nicely furnished. He's even got a bed in there. He has a lot of belongings. I swear the old guy's a bit of a hoarder." Luka laughed. "But the place's clean enough, he keeps everything organized and out of the way. Well hidden, too. You could walk right past it and not even know it is there. The old fella's made himself comfortable."

Evan nodded. He then looked to Kuu. "Teleport us home?" He requested. Kuu chirped and did so.

"Whoo! That never gets old!" Luka said, shaking his head a few times.

As soon as Vyyr caught his scent, he looked up quickly. He stood stiffly with a friendly greeting chirp. 'Luka! I wasn't expecting to see you here!' he said.

"Hey there, ya old bastard!" The wolfish man grinned. That had a staticy laugh from Vyyr.

'Good to see you, you smelly old drunk!' Vyyr greeted back with a smile

Definately friends. There was no doubt about it. Only friends greeted eachother in such a manner.

"I expected the worst when Kuu popped out of nowhere behind me." Evan said. "He said he 'didn't smell like human.'" Evan shook his head. "I don't know what he meant."

'That's because he smells of wolf.' Vyyr said simply. 'It is a bit confusing, until you get used to it.' He shrugged. 'The boy probably got confused. Thought you were alone, and got curious.'

Kuu nodded vigorously. Yeah! What he said!

"Well, we're actually going to be doing his... surgery, if you will, in the morning." Evan said to Luka. "So if you want to stick around and help out you can stay here for the night. You'll have to sleep on the couch, though. I don't have an extra bed."

"That's fine with me." He said. "I have a bit of catching up to do with Vyyr, anyway. Been a whole winter since I saw him last."

Evan cooked a meal for the guest, and as night fell he settled down to sleep. Vyyr and Luka stayed up half the night talking, but eventually Luka slept while Vyyr rested with Kuu on the long bed in Kuu's room.

About two hours after sun up, a knock at his door announced that Leanna had come, bearing all her supplies. Her black horse, Satin, was tied to the hitching post in the front yard and she had a satchel of supplies.

"Did you get the Moonshine?" She asked.

"I did. Apparently, Luka and Vyyr know eachother. He came along, to offer a helping hand where he could."

"More like a bit of moral support." Luka put in, from where he sat on the couch. "Don't know much about doctoring n' stuff."

Leanna looked surprised, but nodded. "Guess it's time to get Vyyr drinking." She said. "I wonder how much it will take?"

'I know my limits.' Vyyr said. 'And this time... I'm going above them.' He sat up, as Evan handed over the bottle. He poured himself a glass. Kuu stared the entire time. Vyyr was.. DRINKING something!? He just couldn't wrap his mind around it.

Vyyr chuckled at his expression. 'It won't hurt me, boy. Try some. You'll like it.' He said. He sniffed at the liquid. 'Ah, your new strawberry blend! You know me too well.' He swallowed the glass in a single gulp, before he grimaced slightly. 'Whew! Strong stuff!' He chirped, before he downed another two. He stopped at three, for the moment. The stuff was very strong; and just one glass was enough to get him drunk. Three would make him shit-faced... which he felt he needed to be for what was to come.

Kuu, seeing Vyyr drinking it without any harm, became very curious. He crept closer. Vyyr poured him a glass as well. Kuu looked from the strange reddish liquid to Vyyr, and back again. Finally, his curiousity got the better of him. He poked a finger in. It didn't burn. He sniffed at it and shook his head a bit. It smelled strong. He licked it. He grimaced. It tasted a bit odd, but... sweet, too. It tingled on his tongue.

'Come on then, boy – try it. It won't bite you.' Vyyr said. He was starting to look a bit tipsy. 'Trust me. Been drinking this stuff a long time.'

Kuu stared at him for a moment, before he took a breath and downed the glass. He coughed furiously, eyes widening as his tongue hung out of his mouth. He coughed again. Luka and Evan both had to laugh at Kuu's reaction. But once he got over the strange feel of the stuff, he didn't mind it so much. Evan didn't give him any more, though. He wasn't sure how drunk this would make Kuu, and he didn't want the younger male hurting himself.

The third glass worked its magic. Vyyr soon lay by the fire, eyes half closed as he purred. He purred on and on and on, looking perfectly content. Leanna approached him, and ran her hands down his back. When she got to that scar, Vyyr barely tensed.

"I think he's as ready as he'll ever be." Leanna said. Evan nodded as they came closer.

"Vyyr, prepare yourself. I'm about to start cutting." He said.

The old male downed one more glass just to be sure, then chirped in response, confirming he had heard.

Evan took a breath, readied himself, and pressed the knife against Vyyr's scar. That was when the first problem presented itself. Vyyr's skin was extremely tough. Evan had a hard time getting the knife through it. When he did, Vyyr tensed and let out a staticy growl of pain, but he did not move otherwise. The sound was downright chilling, and made Evan freeze and shiver all over. After a moment, he shook it off. Vyyr lay his head down, docile from far too much alcohol.

Then the next problem presented itself. While Evan was hesitating at Vyyr's growl, the wound had already started to heal closed. It became clear that he would have to work quickly. Vyyr's healing ability was strong, and fast. He made the cut quickly, as Leanna held the wound apart to keep it from healing on him as he worked.

It was definitely infected. Puss and blood oozed out of the incision. Evan had to press down to get it to drain. Vyyr grunted in pain, followed by a long, wavering growl. The staticy sound made Evan's face go pale, but he kept working. Evan Luka came over to help, wiping away the blood and gunk coming out of the cut.

Then, he saw it. At first he thought it was Vyyr's bone, before he realized it was actually the jagged, broken off end of a tooth. Leanna kept the cut open as Evan tried to pull the tooth out. His fingers kept slipping on Vyyr's inky purple-black blood. Each tug made Vyyr growl or hiss in pain.

"There's tongs in my bag." Leanna said. "Those should grip it better then your fingers. Hurry, it's already healing."

Evan nodded quickly as he grabbed the tongs. He gripped the fang firmly, and tugged. Vyyr growled. Evan tugged again, harder, and the fang finally came loose. The pain of the removal made Vyyr jerk and let out a long staticy keening whine. Evan let out a breath of relief as he set it aside. He would look at it later. For now, he had to get the cut cleaned out as much as he could before it closed up. He kept applying pressure, until only blood ran from it.

Evan grabbed a healing salve from Leanna's bag. He packed as much of it into the cut as he could. It would stop the infection from getting any worse, and ease the pain. As soon as Leanna stopped holding the cut open, it started to heal rapidly. Evan was shocked to see it close up completely within a couple minutes. It looked like they hadn't even needed to bring bandages. He cleaned the rest of the blood away from Vyyr's black skin.

Finally, he turned his attention on the fang. It was still sharp, even after being embedded in Vyyr's back for so long. It was permanently stained purple black in places, and from the looks of it it was just the tip of the tooth.

'Can look it?' Vyyr asked. His cooing speech sounded slurred, and it showed; his translation pendant was having trouble picking it up. It was getting harder to understand him.

Evan nodded, and handed it over. "It needs to be cleaned. You had a pretty nasty infection brewing in there." He said. "But there it is, the source of all your pain. We got it."

'Would like keep it.' Vyyr said. Vyyr was very drunk. It showed. He swayed where he lay, his eyes unfocused.

Luka smirked. "Of course. You old Hoarder." He teased. Vyyr laughed drunkenly.

'It memory.' He said. The translation was getting increasingly broken.

"Your pendant isn't working right, old buddy." Luka said. "You're shitfaced."

Vyyr laughed again, before laying his head down. He did not intend on moving; he'd be staying right there for a long time. Healed or not, he didn't want to aggravate the cut. That, and he knew he wouldn't be able to stand, much less walk straight. If he tried to move he'd just hit the floor again. He'd gone way over his limit, and regretted the decision now.

Kuu, on the other hand, had drank down another glass; and he was very, very drunk. He stumbled about as he chirped and cooed. He purred, too, on and on. He kept trying to walk, only to stumble and stagger either to one side or the other. It was a pretty amusing sight.

He felt warm and tingly all over; though the room was spinning strangely. Kuu tried to teleport, but failed miserably. He ended up crashing into the wall and falling back on his butt. He shook his head and stood, only to stagger back several steps and fall over again with a displeased chirp.

Evan went over to his sink, pulling a lever to let warm water flow into the washbasin. He washed the blood from his hands, then sat down on the couch to watch his drunken friend try to make sense of the world.

It was hilarious to watch, though Kuu was making quite a mess in the process of his drunken stumbling. His claws kept gouging the wood floor, too. Evan would have to fix that later.

Luka's sudden hearty laughter had Leanna and Evan both looking at the wolfish man. He was pointing at Kuu. More specifically, between his legs.

"Now there's something I didn't expect to see!" He laughed and laughed.

Leanna blinked, then broke into laughter as well. "Oh my." She snickered. "I think he likes it a bit TOO much."

Evan turned beet red. It appeared that Kuu was a bit of a frisky drunk, which showed clearly with his lack of clothing. "Oh dear gods..." Evan groaned. "Not again! I swear, I've had entirely too many looks at that thing!"

"You better find him something to hump or he might start humping you!" Luka laughed.

Evan paled at the thought. "There is no way in the Nether I'm letting that.. THING... anywhere NEAR me... much less my..." He trailed off.

"He'll probably go after me." Leanna smirked. "He's had a peace if it before, after all."

That had a stunned look from Luka, who laughed. "Goodness, girl, how'd you handle it? He looks like a bit much for you."

"I have my ways." She winked. Evan flushed even brighter.

Kuu was finally starting to realize that standing was out of the question. He stumbled to the couch, where he flopped down beside Evan. Evan cleared his throat awkwardly as Kuu suddenly cuddled right up, as close as he could get. He wrapped his long but unnaturally strong arms around the human. Kuu seemed absolutely determined to get as close and cuddly with his friend as he could, and his happy purrs showed it.

Evan squirmed and grunted, before his eyes widened.

"Kuuu!" He moaned in embarassment. "Oh gods I feel your..." He didn't even finish as he covered his beet red face with his hands. Evan tried to squirm away; though Kuu had absolutely no intention on letting go. He was completely unaware of his... not-so-little problem pressing against the human's leg.

"Well, it's been fun." Luka said. "But I should probably get going. Got work to do. See you later, Vyyr." Vyyr chirped back drunkenly. He spoke something, but his translation pendant was unable to pick up on it.

Leanna stood as well. "I should get going, too." She said. "I have more planting to do for the season. I'll be back later."

Evan nodded. "See you both later." He said, shifting awkwardly again. Oh gods that made it worse...

"Have fun with your... frisky friend there." Luka smirked, before he left. Leanna left a few minutes later after gathering her belongings. . Evan realized he was left alone there, in the arms of an overly drunk.. and now very passed out, Enderman.

Evan tried to squirm away, but even passed out Kuu had a very firm grip. It became clear that he was not moving until Kuu woke up. Only the Gods knew when that would be. Fortunately, his... friskiness went away after a while.

Kuu slept for hours. Evan was stuck there the entire time, until he finally felt the Enderman shift. Evan felt his hold loosen.

He renewed his efforts. He was sick of sitting still. Finally, Kuu let go. He whined plaintively as he pressed his hands against his temples. Kuu opened his eyes, only to whine again, louder, and close them again. He curled up on the couch, the picture of misery.

"You're hung over." He said in surprise. The sound of his voice had Kuu whining again. His head pounded beyond belief.

A few moments later, he heard a quiet groan from Kuu's room. He heard a shift followed by a clack of claws hitting the floor. Evan jumped as Vyyr tore past him, his claws carving gouges in the wooden floor in his haste. He teleported as soon as he neared the door. Evan stared at where Vyyr had just been.

"I wonder what has him in such a hurry." He said. Vyyr had been so calm and relaxed since he met him that the sudden rush seemed a bit odd.

Evan went to the door and pushed it open to check on the elder, who was hunched over with his claws fully extended. That was when Evan noticed the three missing claws on his right hand. His left hand was pressed against the three, the sharp claws embedded deep in the trunk. The Enderman was puking his guts out. A few times he thought he was done, slowly straightening up, only to hunch over all over again. Evan knew that feeling all too well. He just wished there was something he could do; Vyyr couldn't drink anything to ease the hangover. He'd just have to ride it out.

"You look like you've been through this before." Evan said, as Vyyr finally straightened, a bit shakily. He looked like he felt a little better after disgorging the remains of the moonshine all over the ground in front of the tree.

'More times then I care to count.' He said. He stayed still for a few moments. He had to tug a couple times to get his claws dislodged from the tree before he retracted them and turned to go back inside, hands shielding his eyes from the bright sun. He stooped to get through the still open door.

He was just about to retreat into the darkness of the underside of a blanket when he noticed Kuu looking downright restless.

The young male kept shifting, his whines growing more displeased by the minute. 'You'll be wanting him outside, soon.' Vyyr said. 'Or at least a bucket.' He was too miserable to do much himself. His head pounded, his stomach was upset, and he felt like he'd been crushed beneath a ton of stone. But his back didn't hurt like usual, so there was that. After giving Evan a fair warning, he retreated beneath a blanket, curled up in a ball of hung over misery.

Evan quickly rushed to Kuu, tugging at him to try to get him to get up. Kuu whined. He refused, burying his face in the couch. No, that would not do! Evan did NOT want to have to replace his couch because it got soaked in Kuu's vomit. He tried tugging at his feet, but Kuu gripped onto the couch stubbornly. Pulling would have resulted in his couch being torn to shreds; and he did NOT want that!

Evan then tried to push him off the couch, but Kuu stayed put. He whined, which quickly turned into a cranky, staticy growl. Evan sighed and gave up.

Instead, he ran into the storage closet where he kept an extra mop bucket. He got it back to Kuu just in time. Kuu's whining turned urgent before he shuddered, groaned, and followed suit in throwing up everything in his stomach. Evan quickly pushed the bucket in the way and contained the mess. He was glad he did, too. Kuu had indulged in a lot of sweets the night before. It would have made a terrible mess all over the couch and floor. He threw up until his stomach was completely empty, followed by a few try heaves. When it was finally over he stayed bent over for some time. He finally straightened up cautiously and stood. He whined and swayed; but decided to retreat to the darkness and comfort of his room. He curled up on his bed with his pillow over his head to wait for the misery to end.

Evan took the bucket outside with a sigh before he sat down to write about the day's experience in his journal.

It ended with the note "I really hope removing the fang helped. Guess I won't know until Vyyr's done being hungover. As a note... Ender hangovers seem to be terrible."


	13. Warning Signs

Both Enderman were quiet through the night. Vyyr and Kuu both slept off the painful hangovers. Evan got some real sleep, since napping awkwardly off and on in the arms of an Enderman hadn't been the best rest he could have gotten.

As morning came, Vyyr got out from underneath the blanket he'd passed the day and the night in. He moved carefully, but then paused. He felt... better. Much better. He was slightly sore, but that was to be expected. He'd had a dragon's fang embedded in back for gods knew how long. There was probably some scarring and permenant neurological damage. But the fact remained that he felt much, much better. He still limped, due to his crooked leg but his movement was noticeably smoother as he walked to the couch to sit down.

Evan was awake. He'd woken early. Hearing the shuffling, he looked up to greet Vyyr as he got out of bed. He looked considerably better after the hellish hangover he'd had before.

"How is your back?" Evan asked him.

Vyyr let out a coo of approval. 'Much better.' He said. 'I do feel a little bit sore, but only when I move a certain way. It's not constant like it was.' Vyyr stretched. 'Come to think of it, I feel better then I have in a very, very long time.' He commented. 'It feels... almost strange not to be in constant pain. But a good kind of strange.' He walked around the room a few times, looking awed. He moved fluidly aside from the uneven steps from his twisted leg. There was no pain from simply moving, no stiffness slowing him down. It was far better then he could have ever imagined. It was nice to not be in constant pain. He couldn't remember the last time he could walk without it.

He chirped and coo'ed happily, though the pendant didn't pick anything up. Evan realized that a lot of Ender sounds were just expressions of emotion, not actual words.

He heard Kuu stir and teleport out of his room. He, too, looked much better now that his hangover was over and done with. He chirped, before he teleported outside. Kuu liked being outside.

"Are you all done being hung over?" Evan asked Vyyr, who nodded.

'Yes. That is the one part I do not like about indulging in the Moonshine. I always suffer later. But I feel better now.' Vyyr said. He paused, lifting his head to scent the air.

"What is it?" Evan asked.

'I smell another Shadowkin; and it is not Kuu.' He said. 'Female.'

"We were... attacked by a female, a while back." Evan frowned. "But... Luka said he saw a female that..." He trailed off. "That could be very dangerous."

'Should I go find him and bring him back?' Vyyr asked in concern.

"Probably a good idea. If she is who I think she might be, he's in danger." Evan said.

'It is a sad day when the Shadowkin turn on their own kind.' Vyyr said softly. 'I will give him a time to return on his own; if he does not return I will go find him.'

Evan nodded.

Kuu, meanwhile, was enjoying the fresh air and warm sun. This place was home now. He loved it here. He was glad that that terrible splitting headache had gone away, and that he didn't feel like throwing up anymore. More then once that day he had felt the urge to throw up, only to have nothing come up. That had been misery.

As good as he had felt the night before, he wasn't so sure it was worth the pain of the next day. In fact, he decided, it was not worth it. Most definitely not.

He would never touch that liquid that was not water again.

As Kuu walked through the sylvan landscape, a breeze picked up. The scent that came to him made his entire body freeze. Kuu let out a soft growl as his eyes shifted left and right.

A stick cracked behind him.

'So I've finally found you.' The chirping clicks made him hiss and turn around with his teeth bared. Their eyes met. He knew that scent, those eyes. But mostly, that hand, scarred up and missing two fingers, and the scars on her side, hips, and leg.

Kuu's posture instantly changed. He lowered his head and took a step back, his mouth opening as his eyes widened. He let out a long, wavering growl. He was tormented inside. On one hand... this was his mother. A part of him wanted to instinctively go to her, but the more rational side of him crushed the instinctive family attachment. She clearly had no attachment to him. She'd tried to feed him to the Beast. Twice.

'What do you want with me?' He asked guardedly. He felt cold all over; he knew exactly who that was. She was the last person he wanted to meet.

'I want you to fulfill your destiny and appease the Master.' She growled. 'You belong to the Dragon. You are its property. Your actions have doomed my entire Colony. We have fallen into the Master's disfavor. You should be ashamed of yourself.' Her lip curled as she sneered. 'And you will make things right, whether you like it or not.'

'I want nothing to do with your dragon!' He said. 'I left, Isn't that enough?'

She growled low. 'This, is what you have done! The Dragon destroys us because you didn't have the courage to face your destiny!' She snapped.

'It is not my destiny to just lay down and let that monster eat me!' Kuu shot back.

'Silence, child!' She snarled. 'It was for your Colony. For your Family!' Her enderspeak was hissed and angry. 'It is your destiny!One life, for the good of the Colony. Why can't you see that?' She circled him. He followed her every move, not letting her out of his sight. He growled. She growled back.

'Then feed yourself to the beast, for all I care!' Kuu snapped back, eyes narrowing. His mother wasn't attacking. She was afraid of him! And alone! His confidence started to come out as he straightened, lifting his head higher in a tentative attempt at dominance. He opened his mouth and let out a hiss, eyes narrowing fiercely.

She snarled, her eyes narrowing as she took on her dominant stance as well. The two stared eachother down for some time.

'You are worthless!' She hissed. 'A failure through and through! You are nothing, only good as a sacrifice to appease the Dragon! You WILL be sacrificed to the Master!' She held up a medallion about as large as the palm of Kuu's hand. A trinket made of silver, shining and beautiful. On it was etched a dragon, rearing back with its mouth open and flames belting out of its mouth and forming the border. The chain was fine and thin.

She bared her teeth in a cruel smile. She threw the Medallion at Kuu with all her strength. The metal bit into his skin, actually drawing blood from the strength of her throw before it fell into his hands. He looked down at it and his eyes widened.

'Challenge me all you want, child.' She growled deep in her chest. She took a step back. 'But I WILL insure that my Colony regains the Dragon's favor!' With that, she teleported away, leaving Kuu holding the trinket in shaking hands. Thoroughly unnerved, he quickly teleported back home.

As he re-appeared, Evan looked up. Kuu looked calm, mostly. But there were certain signs that both Evan and Vyyr could read clear as day.

"Kuu, what's wrong?" Evan asked. Kuu clutched the item tighter, nervous and afraid. As if he didn't want them to see it.

'Now now, boy.. you can show us. What is it?' Vyyr asked him.

Kuu finally opened his hand. As he saw the medallion, Vyyr jumped back with a hiss and growled deep in his chest. Evan jumped terribly, eyes widening. He had never seen a look like that on Vyyr's face, and with how scarred up he was, not to mention bigger and stronger then Kuu, it was a terrifying thing to behold. Evan had to let out a breath. Vyyr meant no harm towards him, but his reaction meant the Medallion was nothing good. He looked at it a bit closer, then recognized the mark.

"That's the mark..."

'On the back of his neck. The Beast's sigil. This medallion is given to those who are to be fed to the beast. Kuu is meant to be a sacrifice, and the one who gave it to him is not likely to come back alone.' Each word was punctuated with a growl. Vyyr was NOT pleased with what he saw.

"How did he get it?" Evan almost demanded. Vyyr translated, making Kuu whine and take a step back, lowering his head and looking submissive and nervous.

Finally, Kuu started to chirp and coo.

'I did not find it... It was thrown at me.' Kuu said, and Vyyr translated.

"Who threw it at you?" Evan asked. Kuu went quiet again, before he whined softly.

'The one with the missing fingers.' He said. 'My... my mother.'

Evan felt cold all over at Vyyr's translation. "Are you SURE that is what he said?" He asked.

Vyyr nodded.

Evan let out a breath. "This is not good. Kuu, you are in terrible danger." Kuu whimpered as it was translated. He looked scared. That brief moment of dominant confidence was gone; his mother hadn't attacked because she had other plans. She hadn't feared him. She would never fear him. She was the Elder of the Colony; what she said would go. It was likely the entire Colony would come through the Energy Well to hunt him down. The thought frightened him more and more. And what of Evan? And Vyyr? And Leanna and the village? If his vengeful family came, they could all be destroyed. Kuu paced nervously. He was besides himself with fear and worry. The last thing he wanted to do was put Evan in danger.

"To explain..." Evan started. "She is from the memories Kuu shared with me. She tried to feed him to the dragon, twice. When he was a child, he got so scared of the dragon he bit her fingers off to get away. It's why she is missing two. They tried to sacrifice him to the dragon a second time, and he escaped. She must still be hunting him..."

Vyyr nodded. '.. Then it is settled.' He said. 'I will be staying here with you, for a time. You removed the fang from my back; in a way, I owe you. But this is not the reason. You are kind; and young Kuu'Ruhrr has been through too much already. You do not know how to fight against my kind.' He turned to Evan.

Evan nodded, and swallowed.

'And young Kuu does not have experience in fighting. I, on the other hand, have been around for a very, very long time.' Vyyr continued. 'I have experience. I know how to fight. I will stay here and I will train you. And when they come, I will join in battle by your side.' His tone was spoken with such conviction and strength that Evan would not have found it within himself to protest even if he wanted to.

"We... appreciate it, Vyyr." he said, after a moment.

Vyyr nodded. 'Tomorrow, I take you to Shining-moon.' He said, simply. 'She will know what to do.'


	14. The Fox with Many Tails

[**[Author's Note**: SO sorry for the delay in this chapter! I got REALLY busy! That and this chapter covers a lot. ]]

Training started the very next day. Vyyr sent Evan to town to get his armor re-enforced, and new weapons. A Diamond-edged sword would be more likely to damage an Enderman's thick skin then the iron blade he currently had.

As soon as he came back, Vyyr leapt down from the trees. Evan let out a yell of shock, dropping his items on the ground as he found himself pinned beneath Vyyr. The elder did not hurt him. He let him struggle for a bit, before letting him up.

'Had that been one of our enemies, you would be dead.' He said simply. 'You have much to learn.'

Panting for breath, Evan just stared at him dumbly before nodding shakily. He was damn near hyperventilating as he held a hand over his chest. "Y-yeah... please d-don't do that again." He said. He thought he'd be used to it with how often Kuu pounced him. But it was completely different with the scarred up old male. Something about Vyyr was far more intimidating then his younger companion despite the old Enderman's gentle demeanor. Perhaps it was all those scars, or the fact that he wasn't really used to Vyyr yet.

'My training is not going to be easy.' Vyyr said. 'We have no idea how much time we have. I will do all I can to make sure you, and young Kuu'Ruhrr, survive.' His eyes burned with pure determination.

Evan nodded dumbly as he still tried to calm down.

'But before it starts in earnest, I will take you to Shining-Moon.' Vyyr said. Evan let out a breath of relief. He wasn't so sure he was ready for Vyyr's training yet. His heart still hammered in his chest from the ambush on his way inside.

'We will teleport. She lives quite far.' Vyyr said. 'Come, Kuu'Ruhrr.' With a nod, Kuu teleported to their side. Vyyr placed a hand in each of theirs. Evan closed his eyes and braced himself for the teleport. He shook himself once they came out of it, feeling dizzy and slightly breathless. He never quite shook off all the effects, even if he was getting used to it.

Once he shook it off, he realized they were in front of a cottage, beautifully built with a delicate looking white wood, trimmed in black. There was the strong smell of herbs, and flowers from the beautiful garden that surrounded the house. Two cherry trees stood on either side, in full bloom. A path of smooth stepping stones lead to the door, with a somewhat tribal-style fox's face painted on with a crescent moon on its forehead.

On either side of the door were sculptures of slim, dainty foxes, sitting with their heads up and ears perked, stances proud and beautiful. They were surrounded by tails framing their smooth marble bodies.

Vyyr walked up to the door. He was just about to rap at it when it opened. The woman who stood there was beautiful, exotic, and strange. Her lips were painted dark red in stark contrast with her skin, as pale and delicate as a porcelain doll. She had dark eyeliner framing beautiful, slanted silvery blue eyes and shimmering blue eyeshadow. Her cheeks had just the right amount of red blush to them. She wore a kimono, white with black trimming, which flowed about her shapely form like a ghostly shroud. She walked barefoot, her steps silent and graceful. Her hair was long and silvery white hanging nearly to her knees. It cascaded over her frame like a river of silver. On her forehead was a black crescent, matching the black eyeliner that accentuated her beautiful, exotic eyes. All in all, the strange woman had an unearthly beauty and natural allure that nearly took Evan's breath away.

Most notably, though, were two sharp, furred ears, like those of a fox. The fur was silvery white and tipped with black. They were perked and alert.. At first, Evan thought her kimono had a train of fur. But as he looked he realized it looked less and less like a furred train and more like multiple tails. Five, to be exact. Each tail was long and thin, but covered on thick, silky fur. The tails were silvery white, with black tips. Evan noticed that the skin on her hands was black, which faded into the overall pale skin of her body; the same with her feet. It was as if she, as a somewhat-human woman standing before him , had the markings of a fox. He had never seen anything like her; and hardly believed his eyes at the moment.

A smile appeared on her face, revealing that she had sharp canine teeth. She circled Vyyr once, her tails lightly trailing over his ankles and legs as she passed. He relaxed visably, letting out a long, staticy purr.

"Long time no see, stranger." She said. Her voice was unearthly, smooth and beautiful. There was a certain song-like seductive quality to it that made Evan shiver all over. Evan Kuu was effected, staring at the strange woman in an oddly enchanted manner. He chirped questioningly and looked at Vyyr.

"So, what brings you here, Dark One?" She purred softly. Her clawed, black fingertips trailed along his cheek, though she had to stand on her tiptoes and reach as high as she could to reach his cheek.

Vyyr's purr grew deeper, and gained a slightly rough note. But he shook himself. 'Have restraint!' He thought to himself.

'I had two things to ask of you.' Vyyr said. 'One, my friend needs his armor, and sword enchanted. And second... I would like a translation pendant for young Kuu here.'

"Well then..." She approached Kuu, circling him as well. Kuu sucked in a breath of surprise, watching the smaller female. Her proximity and exotic scent made his entire body feel hot, but he pushed it away. "You're in luck, Vyyr. I made an extra, in case you broke the one you had."

'Nice to see you have some faith in me.' Vyyr smirked playfully, showing a few of his sharp black teeth and the glowing inside of his mouth.

"You never know." She crooned. "Come on in." She said, before flitting inside. She left her door open. Evan entered, followed by Kuu and Vyyr, who both stooped to get through her door. Once they were inside, the door closed on its own. Each found a place to sit down.

"What sort of enchantment are you looking for?" She asked the human in her beautiful, haunting voice.

"Well... my friend, Kuu, here...has a past that's coming back to bite him in the butt. We have other Endermen coming to attack. I am not sure how many. I'd like to be able to survive long enough to help protect him. Vyyr said you might be able to... enchant my armor, and weapons, to make them stronger?"

She nodded lightly. "I will enchant them to have the strength and durability of Vyyr's claws." She said. "And your weapons to have their sharpness and toughness. It will take a few hours to complete. You are welcome to remain here as the spell completes. Hand me your armor and weapons."

Evan nodded, and did so. She carried them to a large black cauldron, which she filled with shimmering, silvery blue water. She chanted and sang beautifully as she added ingredients to the liquid. The energy rising on the air made Evan's skin prickle with goosebumps.

"Come, Vyyr. Extend your claws and place them in the cauldron." She purred. Her voice was sultry enough to make Evan's face redden a bit. He could hardly believe the effect she had on him. Maybe it was just her Kitsune power... she had this certain... allure, to her, that he just flat out could not deny. Everything about her drew him in like a month to the flame.

'But...' Vyyr said, but she cut him off.

"The water is enchanted. It will not hurt you." She said simply.

'… Well, allright...' He seemed to trust the kitsune, because he extended his sharp claws and placed them into theglowing fluid.

No harm came to him. Vyyr stood serenely beside the cauldron of glowing liquid until Moonshimmer pressed her entire body against his back and ran her hands over his toned abdomen. Evan saw Vyyr shiver noticeably and let out a deep purr, his eyes half-closing, practically melting at her touch.

'Have restraint!' Vyyr thought to himself for a second time, and tried to ignore the closeness, warmth, and scent of his five-tailed friend. Despite all the self control he had, his body was reacting. He felt the pressure and tingle of rising excitement. He shook it off, willing the feeling to go away.

But Moonshimmer was not done with him yet. "You can take your claws out of the cauldron, now..." She whispered, her breath tickling against his back. Vyyr shivered and purred again, before he withdrew his hand.

'Really, Shining-Moon?' He questioned, perhaps a bit breathlessly. 'In front of guests?'

She just smirked coyly with a flick of her sharp, foxy ears and a twitch of her long, furred tails.

Evan quickly looked to the side, his face growing hot. He was trying to convince himself he had NOT just seen that! First Kuu, and now the scarred old one, too! He'd seen entirely too much Ender junk in his life. Much to his relief, Vyyr went and sat down in such a way that his leg hid the results of the Kitsune's flirtations.

"This will take about three hours." She said, as she placed his armor and weapons in the liquid. "You are welcome to stay until it is ready."

Moonshimmer then went to a small chest she had, where she brought out a pendant that looked like Vyyr's. A fox's head surrounded by tails and beautiful moonstone gem set in the silver.

She walked over to Kuu, before pressing her entire body to his front. Her five tails swayed as she clasped the pendant around the young male's neck. Kuu shifted a bit and stared at the Kitsune, who smirked lightly as she pulled back. Kuu shook his head a bit and let out a staticy little cough-like sound as he cleared his throat. She didn't have the effect on him that she had on Vyyr. At least, not as strong.

Vyyr just chuckled a bit at the younger male's reaction. 'You'll get used to that.' He said. 'She does it a lot. Especially to me. She and I have a bit of a... history, together.' The way he said it, and what he had seen just moments before told him exactly what the old male was implying.

"I... didn't need to know that." Evan said, which got a staticy laugh from Vyyr. Kuu turned and stared at Evan for a moment.

'I understood you!' He said.

Evan realized he understood Kuu as well. "So it works?" He asked.

'Yes, it works!.' Kuu said. He looked excited, eyes bright. There were SO many things he wanted to tell Evan. 'I can understand everything!'

'This will make training considerably easier.' Vyyr said. 'Since I will be training you both together, and communication makes working together much easier.'

Kuu and Evan both agreed.

Kuu couldn't hold back his smile. Most seeing it would find it frightening; his fangs were sharp, but only half revealed. His eyes bright and friendly. His stance told his emotion, though, relaxed, arms to the side. Despite his relaxed posture, his movements and chirps showed clear excitement.

The hours flew past as Evan and Kuu talked on and on about all sorts of things, until Moonshimmer announced that it was ready. There was a flash of light as all the fluid vanished into the weapons and armor in the cauldron.

She brought the armor out. Vyyr extended his claws and rapped them against the metal, before he nodded in approval. 'I do believe this will work.' He said.

"Of course it will." the Kitsune purred, circling the tall, scarred Enderman. Her tails swayed and grazed his legs, sides, and hips.

Vyyr's staticy purring started right back up at the silky contact of her tails. The purr quickly took on a deeper, rougher note as the Kitsune circled him again. Even Vyyr's posture changed. His head up and alert, eyes half closed, mouth half-open in an odd smile. His entire form was completely relaxed.

'You two go on ahead...' He said, his tone laced with his rough purring. 'I'll... catch up in a bit. I know where your home is.'

Evan quickly looked away as he saw something that wasn't so relaxed between the Enderman's legs. Again! Why did he have to keep _seeing_ that! He moaned awkwardly in embarrassment before making a hasty retreat back to his home. Kuu teleported them the rest of the way home.

It was about an hour and a half later that the sound of a teleport just outside and the door opening announced Vyyr's return. He looked to be in quite a good mood.

'Now then! Training shall begin. Come along!' He chirped.

Evan nodded as he and Kuu followed the old male to the clearing.

'Kuu. Charge me.' Vyyr said.

'What...' Kuu looked a bit incredulous.

'Come on boy, charge me. I'll be fine.' Vyyr stood, alert but calm.

Kuu hesitated, before he lowered his head and rushed Vyyr. His claws kicked up clumps of dirt behind him. Vyyr dodged him with ease, and knocked Kuu down with a single quick movement. Kuu yelped and hit the ground with a thud.

'No, Kuu – like this.' Vyyr said. 'Your footing is all off. You can't just charge headlong; you have to think about it first. Look for any opening; gauge your opponant's strength.'

Kuu let out a little huff of annoyance as he picked himself up. He brushed himself off. He changed his stance, waiting for Vyyr's charge. The older Enderman rushed him, and Kuu lifted up his hands to block, only to get knocked over once again. Vyyr was old, and experienced. Depsite his stiff back, he could still hold his own. Kuu was actually a bit small for his species. Still taller then a human by far, but he stood a full head shorter then any other Enderman. And sometimes it got discouraging. Vyyr could take him down without a thought. Kuu whined in frustration as he was knocked down for a third time.

'Dodge, boy!' Vyyr said. 'I am bigger, and I am stronger! But you can use my momentum against me. Use your smaller size to your advantage. If you aren't as strong as your enemy, then you can use your size, and smarts against them!'

'You've got more experience then me!' Kuu complained.

'Yes... and? Those who are hunting you right now do, too.' Vyyr said.

'…. good point...' Kuu sighed.

'Again.' Vyyr stepped back and charged. He looked fearsome, his head high and his mouth wide open with an odd, staticy growl. The sound chilled Evan to his bones, but he knew Vyyr was training them. He'd have to get used to that sound.

Kuu yelped in surprise as Vyyr rushed him, but managed to jump out of the way. Only to get knocked down from the back by a sharp kick to the back of his head. He hit the ground with a yelp and whine, before sitting up and brushing himself off with an annoyed stare at his old trainer. He let out a frustrated growl, his teeth showing irritably.

'Keep on your toes, Kuu'Ruhrr!' Vyyr said, simply. 'Be alert, listen, feel, smell... use your senses! Don't think that they will give up after dodging them once! They will keep attacking, and instead of using their weight to knock you down, they will be using their claws to kill or disable you. You have to keep fighting, and dodging, and you have to stop them before they stop you! As it stands it SEEMS like they want you alive. This is an advantage you can use.'

'Why do you say that?' Kuu asked. He brushed himself off again with a little huff. He felt sore already.

'That damn token means they want to feed you to that damned dragon!' Vyyr growled harshly. The way he said 'dragon' dripped with hatred... and fear. The sound of it made Evan shiver, who was watching the whole thing.. He knew Vyyr meant no harm, but the sparring was still a bit nerve-wracking to watch, even if neither of them truly hurt eachother.

'And again!' Vyyr said. He charged at Kuu, who moved quickly out of the way. He moved again, dodging another attack, and at the third leapt up and came down, knocking Vyyr to the ground. The Elder hit the ground with a thud and a grunt. Kuu looked concerned for a moment, but Vyyr sat up and shook himself, before he looked to Kuu with a smile. 'Very good, you learn quickly.' He said. He stood. 'Now. See if you can knock me down again. Remember, think fast. The same strategy won't work each time. Your opponent will be thinking as quickly as you do.'

Vyyr backed up, and charged. Kuu dodged. He teleported up into a tree, which actually surprised Vyyr for a brief moment; but not for long. Kuu leapt out of it, using the height to his advantage. Vyyr quickly moved out of the way, then spun around and charged again with a fearsome howl. He met Kuu with a leap halfway down and sent the younger Ender flying before the scarred male went into a teleport and landed lightly a few feet away. Kuu hit the ground with a grunt, before he propped himself up, panting hard. He shook his head and stared at Vyyr, only to see the older Enderman was coming at him again!

He yelped, and scrambled before he rolled out of the way. It gave him just enough time to get on his feet before Vyyr came at him from behind. He realized Vyyr was not taking it easy on him. He tried to run to give himself some time to gather his wits, but Vyyr was there in front of him moments later. Kuu skittered and lost his balance, and was knocked down once again. He was just about to complain, only to see Vyyr was charging again. He jumped to his feet, looking around quickly. He dodged to the side, and ran around a tree. But Vyyr teleported and countered him once again. No matter where Kuu turned, Vyyr was there. Vyyr was effectively keeping him on the defensive.

'Prepare yourself!' Vyyr said sharply, and this time came at him with claws extended and out fully. Evan gasped at the length of them. They looked deadly, even with the three missing on his right hand. Kuu let out a surprised yelp as his claws and back spines came out, hands rushing to block the sharp claws of his opponant. There was a clatter of claws to claws and a burst of snarling and growling, followed by a hiss of pain from Kuu. Vyyr hadn't just struck once. He'd struck out several times. Kuu had managed to block a few swipes, but Vyyr was fast and experienced. He found an opening. The small scratches healed within minutes, but still hurt.

'Vyyr!' Kuu complained. 'Come on, that's not fair!'

'And you think that the ones hunting you will stop for a moment?' He asked. 'They will be looking to actually hurt you.'

'But you could take it easy on me... I'm just learning!' Kuu complained.

'Yes, you are just learning. And I am taking it easy on you.' Vyyr said. 'But I want you to be prepared, and I don't know how much time we have before they actually find your home. You will have to defend your home. Not just yourself, but your human friend as well. Do you want to see Evan get killed?'

Kuu looked quite horrified at the thought. He shook his head. 'No! I don't want to lose him!' He said.

'I've lost those who are close to me.' Vyyr said. He touched the Ender Pearls around his neck. 'And when you lose somebody you care about, the pain does not go away. Especially when you could have prevented it yourself. Every day that passes, you will think of what you could have done. You will think of every thing that happened that day, and it never, EVER stops hurting. You care about Evan. And you have the strength to defend him. He may not be your mate -'

Kuu shook his head at that. 'He's male.' He said. 'And not even Shadowkin!'

'That is besides the point.' Vyyr interrupted before Kuu could say anymore. 'The point is, you have the power to defend him. And I am helping you learn to do so. You do care about him, do you not?'

Kuu nodded. 'I do.' He said, quietly. 'He's the only friend I've had all this time.'

'You don't want him to get killed by those hunting you, right? Whether it is your fault or not... you WILL blame yourself. I've been through it myself. Even if you know you couldn't change what happened, a part of you will always wonder why you didn't do more. Why you didn't fight to protect him as much as you feel you should have.' Vyyr continued. His gaze was fierce, but there was hidden pain there. The way he looked at Kuu, with such conviction... the fervent way he spoke it... the way his hands touched the two shining green stones around his neck... he had clearly lost somebody. And was determined not to let Kuu go through the same pain.

Kuu nodded again, his expression sobering a bit as he saw the look in the elder's eyes.

'I am giving you the training you need, to protect yourself, and your friend.' Vyyr said, looking over at Evan. He'd been quiet during the training session. 'I know I am training you hard, and I know that, right now, it seems impossible to beat me. But whether you win, or lose, you are still learning something. If you make a mistake with me, that gives you something to look for when in a real fight for your life. I have already noticed that you rarely make the same mistake twice. You are learning from every success... and failure, in this session. You are smart, fast, and agile. Maybe not as big and strong as I am... but your enemy may underestimate you. That gives you an advantage, if you can take it. I am training you hard, because I care and I don't want to see you die.'

Kuu nodded again, then smiled. 'Allright. Let's... try again.' He said. He positioned himself.

'That's more like it.' Vyyr smirked lightly.

The next sparring match lasted a long while, and by the end of it Kuu was exhausted and panting. He'd been tested to his limits, but Vyyr seemed pleased with his progress.

'Now. It's your turn.' Vyyr said to Evan. Evan knew he was going to train him, but at the same time he was pretty nervous about it. He swallowed.

'Don't worry, I will use the backs of my claws. I won't hurt you. I know you can't heal like Kuu can.' Vyyr said.

Evan noticed that there was a bit of deep purple blood on his claws. He swallowed again. He was used to being around an Enderman, but the thought of one coming at him with claws out made him nearly shake in his boots.

Vyyr lead Evan away a bit. He started off slow, testing Evan's reflexes and skills. He had basic skills, but had a LOT to learn. He charged at Evan, before teleporting and charging once again. He decided to use methods that most Endermen used when attacking.

Evan was using a wooden sword, something that he could use without hurting Vyyr if he managed to make a hit. Vyyr insisted he could handle a real sword, but Evan didn't want to hurt the old male.

Evan barely had time to prepare himself before Vyyr came charging at him. He let out an impressive yelp and jumped out of the way, but he was not fast enough. He felt the backs of the Enderman's claws hit his neck. He gasped instinctively, but no damage was done. The hit was light.

'Dead.' Vyyr said simply. 'You can't let your opponent take you by surprise. You have to be alert. Even with your armor, you could still end up badly damaged by Shadowkin claws. Again.'

Vyyr charged again. Evan grunted as he was knocked to the ground with ease. Vyyr took barely a pause before making another fierce charge. Evan was thoroughly un-nerved. Even when the dull backs of the claws hit him, an Enderman rushing at him with mouth open and claws out was still a terrifying sight.

It took several charges before Evan caught on... until Vyyr started teleporting. Then that really confused him. Until he realized that he could tell where the Enderman was coming from by the sound produced by their teleportation. The growl sounded as if it came from every direction at once, making it terribly confusing too know where to strike next. But the footsteps, the scraping of claws on the ground, the sharp -Fwoomp!- of teleport, were all signs he could work from.

To his complete surprise, he actually managed to lay a few blows on Vyyr, one even leaving a bruise that healed within minutes.

By the end of it, Evan was panting and dripping in sweat, and bruised in several places. Not once had Vyyr used the sharp part of his claws, but even then Evan was sore and bruised. He could tell, though, the elder had gone easy on him.

Vyyr looked tired as well. He had not taken a break while training the two that day and he wasn't so used to all the physical activity. He limped back into the house a bit stiffly, before he stretched. His back cracked sharply, followed by a groan of relief.

'I need to get used to all that physical activity again. I admit I've gotten a bit... lazy.' The old Enderman laughed softly, before he went to get some sleep.

"Are you going to be allright?" Evan asked. Vyyr nodded.

'I will be fine.' He said. 'Prepare for tomorrow. Our training will continue.'


End file.
